Waking Up
by Athingor3
Summary: Post 5 03 - Gail and Holly cross paths at a crime scene. Can they find their way back to each other or is it too late? First Fan Fic. You know it's the one where Holly has a concussion. Recently updated rating to M. Reviews are welcome.
1. Chapter 1

**Holly**

This has been the longest three weeks of my life and that's including my second year of residency in which I'm almost positive I didn't sleep for more than 3 hours at a time for over a year.

There's been a turf war going on between two local gangs and we've had 7 bodies in two weeks from that alone. That's not counting the one that I've been called to this morning. And joy of joys this one is actually on the boundary of 27 & 15 divisions which means that there is a good chance I'm going to see the other reason that these last few weeks have been so long. Gail.

My Gail. Well, that's probably not accurate anymore. I know she was hurt at the Penny and didn't really mean what she said in retaliation for what she thinks I said but goddammit I've called, I've texted. I haven't been to her place but if she won't pick up the damn phone then I think the message is clear. I've quit calling in the last few days. I was afraid I was becoming a stalker. Leave it to me to get involved with someone who on the first day she meets you tells you that she's no good at relationships. It was like a siren call to me.

But this. This is going to test my resolve. I knew I was going to have to see her eventually but I had hoped it would be under different circumstances. Maybe she won't be here but I brace myself anyway. I park the car and scan the scene. I see her almost immediately. That blonde hair. I wonder, not for the first time, how they hide her if they have a night stakeout with that hair and that porcelain skin. God she's so beautiful even in that uniform that doesn't quite hide the curves that I know are there. Though the uniform is hot in a badass cop sort of way I have to admit.

I start to get out of the car and stop when I see another officer, a woman, walk up to her. She's pretty in an obvious way if you're into that sort of thing. Gail smiles at her and from this distance I can't tell if it's her genuine smile or her "I hate you" smile. I'd have to see her eyes to tell. I watch the woman touch her arm and my vision goes hazy for a second. I feel like I might throw up. I'm cold and clammy and hot all at the same time. This is stupid. So, so stupid. Get a hold of yourself Stewart! This is Gail's decision. She walked out of the Penny. She jumped out of the fucking tree whatever the hell that means. I take a deep breath and get out of the car ready to act like the forensic pathologist assigned to this body.

**Gail**

I'm assigned to the boundary tape at the crime scene. There's a body inside which means that someone from the morgue is on their way. God, I hope it's not Holly. Please anyone but Holly. I feel like my sanity is slipping away from me bit by bit. I wonder if I'm going to have to step up the retail therapy again. Then I hear someone call my name. I turn and it's that idiot Luck from 27. She's talking to me the way boys did in junior high and maybe some of the girls. Does she like me? I can't even concentrate on what she's saying. I mean even if I was interested, I'm too worried about seeing Holly. So I try out a smile to test the waters. She looks like her face is going to crack in half. Fanfuckingtastic. This asshat is the kind of person attracted to me. She touches my arm and she's saying something again. I catch the last of it.

"You know we could go and get a beer after shift." She says.

"Yeah. No. I'm pretty tired. This is my last of seven. I'm just going to go home and go to bed." I reply. She smiles at me again and I'm kinda afraid of what is about to come out of her mouth when I hear it, a throat clearing behind me.

"Excuse me. I need to get through." She says as she picks up the tape. Resolutely refusing to look at me. This day just gets better and better. Awesome.

"And just who are you?" Luck asks Holly's back.

"Forensic Pathologist" she replies holding up her 'Lunchbox' she never stops walking. Never looks back.

I feel like I have an elephant sitting on my chest and I'm not entirely sure I'm not having a heart attack. Luck, clever girl that she is, notices nothing.

"Should we stop her?" Luck asks.

"No. She belongs here."

I need this shift to be over. I need someone to take over so I can go home and crawl into a bottle of tequila or something. Because I don't think even tequila is going to erase the memory of Holly Stewart completely ignoring me.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Holly walks in clearing her mind of everything but the task at hand. There will be time to process what was going on outside but not now. Now she has to be at her best for the person that lost their life in this old ramshackle house and for their family. They deserve her full and undivided attention.

She walks in and sees Detectives Swarek and Nash standing over what looks to be a male approximately 25 years of age.

"Detectives."

"Dr. Stewart."

"Have the crime scene techs taken photographs?"

"Yep. Sure have." Traci replies.

"Good. I'll take a few pics for my records, get a liver temp and then we can move the body. As you can see looks like a GSW to the head as cause of death but I don't like to make assumptions." Holly knelt down next to the body to take pictures. There was a sound behind Holly. Swarek and Nash turned in time to see Duncan Moore tackle someone. They careened together into Dr. Stewart who fell forward and slammed her head into the wall.

Swarek got there first. "Moore what the hell? Dr. Stewart are you ok? Dr. Stewart! Nash she's out cold. Call a bus."

"Dispatch this is Detective Nash we need EMS immediately at 1520 Holy Oak. We have an unconscious person injured on scene."

Gail heard the call go out over the radio. "Diaz! You're on the tape ok? I'm gonna go in and see what the hell is going on." She walked in to see Swarek kneeling down over Holly and Moore and Nash cuffing a heretofore unseen perpetrator.

"Oh my God. What the hell?" She rushed over to Holly's side. There was a growing knot developing on her head. "What the hell happened?" She looked around. "Gerald! What the hell happened?"

"Officer Peck, it wasn't my fault. He was hiding in a panel in the wall. He tried to run past me and I went to tackle him and we fell into her."

Gail turned back to Holly. "Holly! Holly! Wake up! Let me see those beautiful brown eyes. Please Holly." She knelt down held Holly's hand and said quietly, "Please Holly."

Swarek stood helped Moore pick up the suspect and they walked him out. Traci said, "Gail the EMTs are on the way she's going to be fine. They'll be here any minute."

The EMT had finished putting the stabilizing collar on Holly and had her on a spine board as just a precaution they said. Gail refused to let go of her hand. They had just loaded her on the stretcher when she started to come around.

"Hey there. Can you tell us your name?" The EMT asked.

"Holly. Holly Stewart."

"Do you know what you were doing here Holly?"

"I'm the forensic pathologist. I belong here."

This was going to take forever. Gail spoke up. "Holly if you are examining skeletal remains and find diatoms in an otherwise intact femur what does that tell you?"

Holly looked confused for a moment. "Wait. I know this one…it means…it means…"

"Gerald!" Gail turned around to yell at Moore. "You've knocked med school right out of her head. I swear…" Gail started but was interrupted by Traci.

"What does it mean Gail?"

"It was the first thing she ever taught me. The Robbins case. That's how she knew he drowned." Gail looked at the others. "She's not okay."

"We'll take her to the hospital and get her checked out. Probably just a pretty good concussion. They'll check her out to be sure it's not more serious. She's going to be pretty out of it for a while. Anyone want to come with?" The EMT said.

"Peck will go with her." Sam stated. Gail nodded at him gratefully.

Holly's eyes tracked to Gail "You're so gorgeous. Do I know you?"

"You used to." Gail smiled at her a little sadly.

They were behind a curtain in the ER. Holly had been examined and had X-rays which were negative and they were waiting on the results of a CT scan. Every few minutes Holly would move the ice pack off her head, look over at Gail and say the same thing. "Hey, do you know you're gorgeous?"

Gail would smile and reply the same way "Yes. I've been told that before." The EMT told her to keep Holly conscious and keep talking to her but it was like her brain was on reset. So she tried a different tactic. "So since I'm gorgeous and all, and you and I seem to agree on this" she looked at Holly conspiratorially "are you seeing anyone?"

Holly blushed furiously. It may have been the cutest thing that Gail had ever seen. "Umm…ummm…I'm not sure. I think I have a girlfriend but I think she's mad at me. I don't know."

"What happened? Do you know? It's okay if you don't." Gail reassured her.

"I mean she got mad at me for no good reason. I adore her and I could care less what my friends think. I mean just because I got out of a relationship they think I'm just looking for a rebound relationship and I'm not. I'm so not. She's so gorgeous. I think…Hey, do you know you're gorgeous?" Reset time for Holly's brain.

"Really? You think I'm gorgeous?" Gail smiled.

"I do. I think anyone with eyes would honestly." Holly replied. A moment and then, "Where are we?"

"We're at the hospital. You were on scene and hit your head. They think you have a grade 3 concussion and we're waiting on the CT scan results to see if it's anything more serious."

"Checking for brain bleeds and such." Holly replied.

"Go Dr. Stewart. Look at you recovering your mental faculties." Gail smiled. She felt weird not calling her Holly but since Holly didn't seem to know her she thought Dr. Stewart might be less threatening. "Now do you know who I am?"

"I don't but you're gorgeous."

"Yeah. I get that a lot."

"You're holding my hand."

"I was wondering when you were going to notice that."

"So I know you?"

"You used to. My name is Gail…Gail Peck." Gail smiled sadly.

"Okay. I'm sure I'll remember you soon. Memory loss and confusion are common with concussions especially a grade 3."

"I know. The doctor that was in here a while ago explained it to me. They said you should be fine barring anything negative showing up on the CT." Gail smiled at Holly.

"How long have we been here?"

"About an hour or so. Maybe a little less. They wheeled you in and took X-Rays and the CT almost immediately."

"That is fast."

"I might have had a little to do with that I was…insistent." Gail replied almost sheepishly. In reality she had demanded at high volume that someone see to the dedicated medical professional who had been injured in the line of duty.

"Why?"

"Your brain is the most attractive thing about you Dr. Stewart. I'm sort of attached to it. I feel the need to look out for its well-being." Gail said looking right into Holly's eyes. "I mean that's not to say that the rest of you isn't well…gorgeous, but I love your brain." Holly blushed again and looked like she was about to say something when her friend Rachel rushed in and pulled the curtain closed behind her.

"Rachel?"

"Of course you remember her" Gail murmured sotto voice "at least it isn't 'boob job'."

"Holly hey! I came down right after your office called me. I'm her emergency contact." She explained to Gail. She faced Holly "I spoke to Dr. Jacobs. He's looking at the CT now and thinks you should be fine. You'll just need someone to watch over you tonight."

Rachel turned to Gail. "Gail, I know you might not think this but I like you. You make Holly smile like I haven't seen in years. Lisa was shitty the other night and I'm sorry you overheard her. There is a lot of history there but honestly she just wants what's best for Holly which brings me to my next piece of news. Gail I'm truly sorry for what is about to happen in the next few minutes but whatever it is, I need for you to stay here next to Holly and I need you to keep holding her hand. Can you do that?" Gail nodded.

"I should tell you, she doesn't remember me." Gail said gesturing to Holly unnecessarily.

"Really? Alright. We can still do this. Holly sweetie. I was having lunch in the cafeteria when I got the call. Melissa overheard. She's coming down here to see you."

"No. I don't want to see her." Holly shook her head like a child and then groaned at the pain.

"It's okay sweetie. Just keep holding Gail's hand. Roll with whatever we say and Gail and I will make her go away." Rachel looked at Gail.

"Absolutely." Gail smiled at Holly. "If you don't want to see her, we can handle that."

There was a commotion outside of the curtain. Rachel said to Gail out of the corner of her mouth, "Gird your loins."

**Gail**

I have just enough time to think, _Gird your loins? What the what?_ before a 6 ft. redhead bursts through the curtain and barrels toward Holly. Rachel and I step forward blocking her view. I'm still holding Holly's hand.

"Holly sweetie how are you?" The redhead is determined to ignore both me and Rachel it seems.

"Dr. Carson" Rachel emphasizes her title I assume to snap her back into some sort of professionalism "I told you in the cafeteria that Holly does not want to see you that this is an intrusion and an abuse of your privileges at this hospital. This is her girlfriend Gail."

"Holly, Holly baby you want me to be here to take care of you don't you?"

"No Melissa. I don't want you in my life anymore. You've left it too many times voluntarily. I'm too tired to play games. Please go."

Well this woman is an idiot. Who in their right mind would leave Holly? Oh right. I did. But that doesn't count. That was Boob Job and Holly and my truckload of baggage. Boob Job voicing all my fears. I left her before she left me. I did it to not get hurt. But it did. It hurt so much. Hmmm so that strategy actually backfired. I'm going to have to rethink this.

"Holly you don't know what you're saying. You've been injured." That bitch. She's trying to use Holly's weakened state against her.

"I know exactly what I'm saying Melissa." Holly holds up our hands. "I have someone else who takes care of me now."

I hold out my right hand. "Gail Peck. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you but I'd be lying." I smile.

She barely looks at me and then continues speaking only to Holly. "No one is ever going to love you like I love you Holly-Lolly."

**Holly**

I don't really know how to describe "waking up" from a concussion. It's a little bit like coming to from an alcohol blackout I think. I sort of wake up from this drunken dream-like state as I'm telling Melissa I don't want her in my life. I register that I'm holding Gail's hand grateful for her comfort and strength next to me. She tries inserting herself in this conversation that Melissa is determined to have with only me. That's when it happens. Melissa calls me her pet name for me "Holly-Lolly." God how I hate it. I absently wonder what the odds are that there could be a tectonic plate shift large enough to swallow up the hospital so I won't have to be here for this. Unlikely. What about a sinkhole? Much better odds there. Is a sinkhole too much to ask?

Gail starts to shake her head like she's trying to get water out of her ears. "Holly-Lolly? Holly-Lolly?" She turns to me, "Really? Dr Stewart, I can never ever unhear that. I'm going to hold you responsible. You are totally going to have to make this up to me."

I start to laugh. She's so adorable. She's making me laugh at this incredibly awkward situation.

Gail turns to Melissa, "And you. You pitiful excuse for a girlfriend. You have this" she gestures to me "to work with and you pick Holly-Lolly? Seriously? She's so beautiful. Ridiculously sexy. Incredibly smart. Unbelievable in bed and that's what you go with? You don't deserve her."

I see what she's doing. She's baiting Melissa. I squeeze her hand. "Gail."

"No. She doesn't deserve you." Gail says as she reaches toward me and that's when it happens. Melissa lurches forward. Gail pins her against the wall. "Now, you're going to listen to me carefully. You're going to walk out of this room right now and you're going to leave her alone for good or Rachel over there is going to call security and report this breach of conduct. I'm going to give a statement as an upstanding police officer and say that I felt threatened."

"You looked threatened." Rachel agrees.

"Go." Gail releases her. Melissa stalks out of the exam room.

"Wow Gail. That was really impressive." Rachel smiles at her. "I've never seen anyone get under Melissa's skin so fast."

"I've had some practice." She smiles. "Dr. Stewart how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Why are you calling me Dr. Stewart?"

"Because that's who you are. Oh. My. God. Do you not know who _you_ are now?" She looks at me panicked.

"Of course I know who I am but you've never called me Dr. Stewart in your life."

"What does she call you?"

"Holly or if she's feeling froggy, Lunchbox." I reply with a smile as I lean back into the bed. Gail beams at me.

"You remember me."

"What?"

"You haven't known who I am all morning. Quick if you are examining skeletal remains and find diatoms in an otherwise intact femur what does that tell you?"

"That the subject drowned. You were paying attention." I smile at her.

"I always pay attention to you Lunchbox. I'm glad you're feeling better and that you remember me."

Rachel takes this as her cue to leave. "Holly, I'm so sorry about Melissa. I have to get back to the floor. Gail, call me when they release her. It's probably going to be a couple of hours. Do you need a ride? Did you ride in with her in the ambulance?"

"I did."

"Okay. I can run you wherever you need to go to get some things if you need to do that. Can you stay with her tonight? I would but I have my kids by myself tonight and the headache she has will not appreciate my twins running around her house."

Gail looks at me. "I'd like that." I say.

Hours later I'm safely tucked into a blanket on my couch. Gail is in the kitchen, cooking of all things. Cooking is really a loose term. She's heating canned soup for me. Rachel had dropped us off after swinging by Gail's place so that she could change and get some clothes for tomorrow. I didn't remind her that she still has a toothbrush here at my place. I feel raw and exposed and not sure I'm up to any sort of conversation that little factoid might start up. So I sat in the backseat silent with my eyes mostly closed. It's weird seeing one of my best friends and Gail interacting in the front seat the way I had hoped they would on the infamous night at the Penny. I realize that they think I'm asleep. They're talking about me.

"So how loopy was she?" Rachel asks grinning. "I've very rarely seen Holly not completely in charge – even when she's drunk. She's kinda perfect." What a rotten thing to say. I almost harrumphed out loud.

"I was worried that the EMT didn't realize how serious it was. I mean she knew who she was, what she did and why she was at the scene. You know Holly, only 5% of her brain could be functioning and she could still think circles around everyone else."

"What did you do?"

"I asked her the diatom question and then it really didn't matter because she didn't know who I was and finally everyone else saw it too."

"That must have been hard."

"It was kind of liberating in a way. I kept getting to make new first impressions. I've been told I don't make a great one and that was before our night at the Penny." Gail smirked.

"Yeah that was not totally your fault you know. Holly is going to have to tell you the story and Lisa was completely unfair but she really does want what's best for Holly. But you did run out of there like your panties were on fire." Rachel looked over at Gail and raised her eyebrow. "Are you going to do that again? Because I have to tell you I'm going to have to send you the bill for the best friend therapy time that I'll have to spend talking Holly down again." I really need to get new friends I think. Rachel is leaking information like a sieve.

"I can't make any promises but if she wants me to stick around I'm going to do my damnedest not to run. I think we have a lot to talk about and work through though. Uggh. I hate talking about my feelings. It's one of the things that makes me bad at relationships."

"I'll let you in on a secret. Holly hates it too. You two are perfect for each other." I've never hated Rachel more than in this moment.

"Really?" Gail brightens. Okay hate is a strong word.

"Okay. So no more feelings. Tell me about loopy Holly Stewart."

"Well every few minutes she'd look at me and say, 'You're gorgeous' or some variation of that." Oh. My. God. I can feel my face burning and hope that Rachel doesn't look in the rearview mirror too closely.

Rachel laughs. "That's nothing. She said that about you all the time before we met you at the Penny. It was Gail this and Gail that." On second thought hate seems just about right.

Gail moving into my field of vision snaps me back to the present. She sets the tray down on my coffee table. There's a bowl of vegetable soup, some crackers, a mug of what looks to be green tea, a glass of water and the medication the hospital sent home with me.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted to drink so I made both."

"I feel like I'm in my right mind now. You could have just asked me." I look up at her and smile to take any sting out of my words.

"They said you needed to take the pills on a full stomach." She's fidgeting with her hands.

"Gail, honey what is it?" I reach my hand out to her. She sits across from me on the coffee table.

"Holly, now's not the time to embark on any deep discussions but I just need to tell you that I was so scared today. I'm willing to work on this if you are. You don't have to decide anything and you don't have to talk about anything tonight but I just wanted to let you know." She dragged her hand through her short hair. "I'm not sure how to be here with you though. I don't want to put anymore distance between us but I'm not sure how to act anymore. I don't want to assume anything."

"Gail" I sigh tilting my head slightly. "How about we begin, at least for tonight, where we started? As friends. Okay? There was an easy intimacy with us then. Though I was crazy attracted to you and couldn't stop thinking about you." Holymotherfuckingshit! Did that just come out of my mouth?! I blush furiously and hope that the dim lighting and my skin complexion will hide most of it. Damn concussion. I may never recover my dignity from this day.

She smiles at me and it's like standing in the sunlight. It warms me all over. "I bet I know what you thought the first time you ever saw me."

I decide to play along. "Oh really?"

"You thought I was gorgeous." She reaches out to touch my cheek. "I'll let you in on a little secret. I thought the same thing about you. I felt like you hit me right between the eyes. You were a puzzle I couldn't solve. I just knew I wanted to spend time with you. I missed you when you weren't around and you just grew on me. Like a fungus." She reaches down to hold my hand biting her cheek to keep from laughing.

"Smooth. Really, really smooth" I do laugh. "I did think you were gorgeous. I still do." I say softly.

"Obviously because I still am."

"Obviously."

"What? I'm awesome."

"Yes Gail. You are Officer Awesome."

"Oh can I change my contact in your phone to that?" I don't hide the expression on my face quickly enough. "What?"

"I deleted you out of my phone." She starts to pull her hand away. Her face stricken. "It's not like that Gail. I had to quit calling you. I made Rachel write the number down and then to keep from continuously calling you and driving you further away I deleted it."

"Why didn't you write it down? What if she wrote it down wrong?"

"Because I have a very good memory. Look you're right we have a lot to talk about but not tonight okay?"

"Okay. Eat your soup. I'm going to eat that leftover white pizza that I brought over." She stands up and walks into the kitchen.

**Gail**

I feel like I've been punched in the gut and I should know. I've been gut-punched. Getting left at the altar will do that to you. I take a shaky breath and try to calm myself down. She had given up on me. Just like everyone else. I had driven her away. Just like everyone else. Just like Chris. Just like Nick. I wasn't worth it. My beautiful amazing Holly had given up on me. Somehow this is worse than the fun comment at the Penny. I mean at least then she wanted me in her life – just not the way I wanted to be in her life. Now here I am probably against her wishes. She's just too nice to say anything and doesn't want to hurt me. She's nice like that. After tonight I'll get out of here and find that bottle or twelve of tequila and try to forget about all of this. God and it's worse now because I had started to hope. Hope that we could somehow rebuild it. I don't notice that she's gotten up off the couch and is standing behind me until I feel her arms around my waist.

"Stop it." She says.

"Stop what?"

"That internal dialogue. I could hear it from the couch." She turns me in her arms until we are facing each other with her hands on my waist. "I want you in my life Gail. I never wanted you to leave it. I was trying to respect what I thought were your wishes. I left you 8 voicemails and 27 text messages."

"28"

"You brat. Why didn't you return any of them?"

"I didn't know what to say. I mean how do you follow 'tase myself in the eye'?"

"It's a strong exit line. I'll give you that. Let me ask you this. Do you still feel that way?"

"No of course not. I didn't even at the time. I was just hurt and when I'm hurt I don't like people to see."

"So you lash out."

"Yes"

"I figured that out. I'm pretty smart. That's why you got 8 voicemails and 27 text messages."

"28"

"My point being I thought I had done everything I could to breach that gap. I needed you to acknowledge it. I thought that you had given up on me and it hurt." I let that sink in. I had hurt Holly. Not just with my stupid Taser comment but my silence.

She continued "You met Melissa today and I only have the focus for the cliff notes version but I had to convince her over and over to stay in our relationship. I wasn't enough for her. We'd break up and get back together. Over and over. She never cheated but I never felt like she was 'all-in' if you know what I mean. She always had one foot out the door. I worked too much. I didn't want to have sex enough. It went on and on. I couldn't chase you like that too. I wanted us to be different."

"We are Holly. We are. You are everything I never knew I always wanted." I kissed her then. Just briefly bringing out lips together. It was like touching a live wire. "God how I've missed that."

She hummed. "Me too."

"So how many times a week did she want to have sex?" I arch my eyebrow. "How much is too much?"

"You would zone in on that." I continue to stare at her. "I'm not discussing my sex life with another woman with you Gail Peck. It's indelicate." I snort.

"Tell you what. When the time comes. I'll make a formal complaint if I'm unsatisfied. How's that?"

"And thus far have you been unsatisfied?"

"With the exception of the last three weeks? No. Not once." I shudder at the memories flooding my system.

"Good." She leans her forehead into mine and brushes our noses together. "I'm a little dizzy."

"I know me too" I start before I get her meaning. "Oh you mean from the concussion? Let's get you back to the couch."

I navigate Holly back to the couch. Reheat her soup a bit and warm my pizza. We eat sitting shoulder to shoulder and then I lean against the back of the couch and she leans back against me against my chest between my legs. She feels wonderful. I feel like I'm home. I have turned the TV to a nature documentary about sloths. My nerd loves sloths. Not as much as that actress from Veronica Mars but she loves them. I had noticed it was going to come on last week and remembered. I'm cool like that.

"How did you know that this was on?" She tilts her head back during a commercial to face me.

"I may have taken notice of it when I was browsing through the guide last week and remembered. Maybe I was planning on watching it because I knew you would love it."

"Such a softie you are."

"Thank you Yoda." I kiss the top of her head. "Are you about ready to go to bed? They told me I'm going to have to check on you every so often and wake you up. I'm sorry."

"Did they tell you what to look for?"

"Yes…Holly?" I hesitate. She looks at me and her face is so wide open I ask what I want to ask "Can I sleep in your bed with you?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

After the documentary finished we walk upstairs and go about what had become routine. We begin to get ready for bed. I walk into the bathroom and I see it. I see my toothbrush. Something that she would have seen every day. I feel absurdly happy at the sight of it. I must have been grinning because she bumped her hip into mine and said. "I told you. I didn't want you out of my life." Then she just starts brushing her teeth like the world hadn't stopped turning for a minute.

Soon we are in her bed. She's on her side with her back to me. I'm on my side facing her. She reaches around and pulls my arm over her stomach. "I've missed you. I've missed you in my bed. I've missed this." It's too much. I can't help it. I begin to cry silently. I know I should respond but I can't. The feelings are too overwhelming. She feels too good. It's too good. I just squeeze her tightly. After a minute she turns to face me.

"Gail, what is it? Is something wrong?" I begin to sob. She wraps those wonderful arms around me and pulls me to her chest. "Honey, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" I shake my head against her chest. She continues to hold me until I cry myself out.

"I'm sorry. I'm just…I just missed you. I was so afraid I'd never be able to do this again. I'm sorry I'm such a mess. I want to be good enough for you and I keep falling apart in front of you of all people. The person I want to be most together for." I make a face.

"Honey, I love the fact that you feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable in front of me. I feel very honored that you let me see all the sides of you even the ones you try so hard to hide from everyone else. I don't want you to be upset but I'm glad that you care so deeply for me and for us. If you think that I don't feel the same way you're wrong. Now, do I want another Brittney Spears/Amanda Bynes hair massacre in my bathroom? Maybe not. Maybe I should go hide the scissors." She smiles down at me and pretends like she's getting up. I pull her closer. "You don't scare me honey. I can handle all of you. I want to know all of you. I want you to feel safe opening up to me. You know what they say about making love to a porcupine?" I look up at her. "It can be done, you just have to do it very carefully." She smirks at me with that lopsided grin of hers and I know that I'm a goner. I smile and kiss her gently.

"Thank you. Thank you for being you and letting me be me. I'm okay now. Let's get you to sleep. Can I hold you?" I ask.

"Absolutely."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone for the Reviews, favorites and follows. It really is encouraging. This one has a bit more angst in it. I blame the Golly sized hole in my heart. We'll have the next chapter be a bit lighter if you want. Thanks to AS & anotherwellkeptsecret for being my Beta's. Mistakes are all mine. Sadly Rookie Blue is not.**

**Holly**

I open my eyes because my head is throbbing. I'm exhausted. I rub my forehead and feel it gingerly. Shit! That hurts. My bedroom is dark but I realize the blackout curtains have been pulled closed. I look at my bedside alarm clock. It's 11am. Shit! I'm late for work! Did I pull the curtains closed? Wait. I have vague memories of being woken up in the night and being asked random questions.

_How many bones are in the human body?_

_206_

_Name a noble gas._

_Neon_

Gail. That had to be Gail. Odd random things in my life usually track back to Gail. I think a little harder. God my hair hurts. Hospital yesterday. Concussion. Okay. Things are falling into place. So Gail really spent the night here in my bed holding me. I look around the room. She's not here. I sit up carefully and decide to head downstairs to see if she's still here. When I open the bedroom door I realize I'm sensitive to the light. I'm not sure if this is because my bedroom was so dark or the after-effects of the concussion. I decide to go downstairs regardless.

As I'm padding down the stairs I hear her voice. She's on the phone with someone. "Hey I promise I'll make it up to you. Okay? It's just that my friend is hurt and I need to take care of her." She giggles. Gail Peck does not giggle or so I've been told by Gail herself. At the very least I've never heard her giggle at anyone but me. I take a moment to process the sharp stab of jealously that shoots through me. "Whatever you want. I promise. Okay. I've gotta go. Bye."

She's pouring a cup of coffee. I walk further into the kitchen. She turns around and sees me. "Good morning sleepyhead. I thought you were gonna sleep the day away. I was gonna to see if I could tempt you with a cup of coffee." She leans in briefly to kiss my cheek. I allow it. Still trying to get control of my emotions.

"Yeah, I was pretty wiped out. Did you ask me random science questions last night?"

"Yep." She replies without further explanation and walks back into the kitchen.

"Why?" I reply feeling my eyebrows furrow together which aggravates the bruise on my forehead.

"They said I had to check on you and your awareness." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Gail, did you know the answers to those questions?"

"Most of them."

"You knew that another name for the shoulder joint was the Glenohumeral joint?"

"That one I googled."

"Do you realize that I dreamt that I had to take my med-school finals again? And I was naked!"

She turns to me then and walks back over to me and puts her hands lightly on my hips. "Holly, believe me, if you had showed up for you med-school finals naked someone would have passed you. If I had been there, you would have gotten an A." Then she smiles at me like I'm the last ice cream sandwich in the freezer and she's about to unwrap me then she rubs her thumbs across my hips. I almost shudder but stop myself just in time by remembering the anatomical name for exactly where her thumbs are – anterior superior iliac spines.

"Just by showing up naked?" I tease. Dammit, I can't seem to stop myself from flirting with her.

"Probably. Though, I might have asked you how serious you were about getting a good grade. See what exactly you were willing to barter for it."

This morning has gotten off track in record time. I need to change topics or I'm going to take her right here on my kitchen floor and we'll never have that conversation that we need to have. That I need to have before anything happens. "You would have shocked me. I wouldn't have chanced compromising my medical career like that."

She looks at me with a puzzled look on her face. "Okay. Nevermind." She turns back to the kitchen counter. "I went to that little bakery that you like. I got some donuts for me and I got you some orange and cranberry scones." She holds out the box. "How is your head? It's time for another pain pill if you need one."

"I woke up because it was throbbing. A pain pill would be great."

"God, I'm sorry. I should have asked you first thing."

I spot the pill bottle on the counter. I sit on one of the barstools and reach for it pretty much in one uncoordinated movement. She turns and hands me a bottle of water out of the fridge. "That's okay. You were on the phone earlier when I came down." I begin.

"Oh."

"Yeah." I swallow the pills and gulp down some water unsure of what to say further. We sit in silence for a moment. I stare at the counter. I can't stand it. "Was it that cop you were talking to yesterday?"

"What? No."

"I mean she was pretty. I mean I would understand if you felt like you needed…"

"Holly stop." She reaches out to hold my hand. "Holly, I think Luck is an asshat. My heart was about to beat out of my chest yesterday worried that I was about to see you. I'm not attracted to her in the slightest."

"You're not?"

"No you dork. I'm not."

"Why?"

"She's not you."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Which reminds me. You completely ignored me yesterday. You wouldn't even look at me."

"I couldn't." I look into her eyes now. I might as well get this out into the open now. "I saw her touch you before I got out of the car and I had a visceral reaction."

"What do you mean?"

"A gut reaction. A primitive reaction. My vision went all hazy and I wanted to punch her." I hang my head.

"Really?" She looks like she's about to laugh.

"It's not funny Gail. I'm a pacifist at heart."

She does laugh then. "You remember your 'stupid setup' at the Penny?"

"Yes."

"Same here."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really. Before that awful day and your confession in the interrogation room, I was going to get her name from you and run her through the system and see who she was. Probably make Chris and Dov ticket her repeatedly. Maybe let Chloe talk her to death. I don't know but I was making plans."

I squeeze her hand. "You didn't want to punch her though."

"I didn't say that. Being a police officer and all they frown upon pub violence while inebriated."

"Pub violence. Is that a thing?" I smile at her.

"It would have been if you'd kissed her."

"I didn't want to kiss her."

"Why not?"

"She's not you."

She smiles at me and rubs her thumb across my knuckles. "So we've established that I'm not attracted to anyone but you and you don't want to kiss anyone but me. I think this is a good start."

"Very promising. Yes it is." I can't stop myself. "So who was on the phone?" I try to sound casual.

Gail smiles a bit and then replies. "Are you jealous Holly?"

"No." She looks at me. "Maybe…Okay dammit. Yes. I'm jealous." She kisses me then. A fierce, soul-searching, moaning, trembling all over, toe-curling kiss. When she pulls away I'm shaking so badly I have to hold on to her shirt even though I'm still sitting on the stool. "Wow. That was unexpected."

"Well, you were jealous."

"Do you want me to tell you about how I planned Officer Luck's death and dismemberment from the car to the inside of the house? Because I can totally do that if you kiss me like that again." I smooth out the front of her shirt. Carefully avoiding her breasts.

"Nah. I'll be too tempted to do away with her if I know I can get away with it. She called me the chicken police."

"The what?"

"The chicken police. She was making fun of my last name."

"Gail she was flirting with you. Albeit like a twelve year old boy but she was flirting with you. Everyone knows the Peck name Gail. And if yesterday was how she normally reacts to you, she was flirting with you."

"Yeah I figured that out. But we've already covered how that doesn't matter."

"Because she's not me."

"That's what I like about you. You're so quick."

"That's me - quick thinking forensic pathologist who apparently is jealous of anyone who speaks to you. It's a gift really."

"You have no reason to be jealous Holly. None whatsoever. But I kinda like it." She puts her arms around my neck. "You're so cool. It's nice seeing that something gets under your skin."

"_You_ get under my skin Gail Peck."

"You are such a sweet-talker." She leans in to kiss me again. This one is a bit tamer. It's a kiss to get reacquainted. To familiarize ourselves with one another again. She pulls back slowly. "Now. Not that I'm not flattered by the attention but you have no reason to be jealous of the girl on the phone."

"So it is a girl."

"Yes. Her name is Sophie and she's eight years old."

She tells me the story slowly in fits and starts. We move to the couch and she tries to get me to eat the scones so the pills won't upset my stomach she says. She tries hard not to cry and it's all I can do to not to pull her close to me and cradle her in my arms but I know that's not what she needs right now. She has to get this out. So I hold her hand and slowly nibble on a scone to appease her, too upset for Gail to be hungry myself. She tells me about finding the woman Trina and her desperately saying the name Sophie over and over again and how she thought that was Trina's name. She tells me about the waste of it all. Tells me about how this beautiful sweet little girl is left motherless because a gang lieutenant wanted a promotion. I of course know all of this. I did Trina's autopsy, I could tell Gail exactly the how and why, the medical reasons for her death, but I remain silent.

She continues, "I don't know why but this case has hit me harder than any of the others. I know I've seen worse things but I can't get this out of my head. Oliver yelled at me. I hadn't turned my paperwork in and he yelled at me. Then he calmed down and we talked, and I told him that it was the worst and he told me that it didn't matter if there were 'worse things', what mattered was it was the worst for me and that they would all hurt more from now on. I don't know if I can handle it Holly. I don't know if I can do the job if it's going to feel like this all the time.

"All I wanted after that horrible day was to come here and have you hold me and tell me it would all be ok. But I had fucked that up. So I had nothing. I started shopping online and buying stuff. It was my way to cope with it. It didn't work but I tried it.

"I went to go see her, Sophie. They let me visit her and that made me feel a bit better. We talked and played some games. I'm trying to make sure she gets placed in a good foster home. Well, at least I come with it. They'll let me visit and check in on her and make sure everything is okay or as okay as it can be for a while.

"Seeing her is the only thing that makes me feel better at all. Well, until yesterday. Until you and that damn concussion looking at me and telling me I was gorgeous over and over." She smiles at me finally. I squeeze her hand. She takes a breath realizing she's been talking for a long time. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for unloading all that on you."

"Don't you dare be sorry. You needed to get that all out. Do you feel better at all?"

"I do yes."

"Gail, honey, you've had your armor pierced. You've always felt these things but you've buried them so deeply. Everything that has happened, Sophie's mom, Sam and Chloe getting shot, Oliver being abducted, Christian being abducted, you've always felt all of this. You felt it so deeply. You've just shoved it down. No one can repress everything forever. It'll come out unexpectedly like that night of the 'hair massacre'. You have an amazing capacity for love honey. You just don't show it like other people do. You hurt when your friends hurt. You just don't let them comfort you. Maybe you'll let me? I want to but if it's not me, then someone. You have to be able to take your armor off and just be Gail with someone. Not a Peck or a police-officer but Gail. You're allowed to need someone. We all do."

She doesn't answer me verbally at first, just squeezes my hand and closes her eyes and I know. This is Gail Peck needing me. I may never hear the words out loud but I'm the one she has chosen to show her vulnerable self. I'm the one she trusts to show her fear. I'm the one that needs to soothe and calm the storm and if that means that I get this incredible amazing woman in my life I know that I'll do exactly that for however long she needs it. I've never met anyone who loves as deeply and as secretly as Gail Peck and I know in that moment that I'll do whatever I have to if it helps her do the job she was born to do.

Then I assume because the moment was too much right now she finally replies, "Why do you insist on calling it a hair massacre?"

"Can you think of a better name for it? I walked in and you had hacked off your ponytail and then took a couple of drunken snips at your hair and it was strewn across my bathroom. That hair had done nothing to you. It was innocent hair."

She chuckled. "Yeah but if you keep calling it that I'm going to start to think that you don't like your work here." She touched the back of her head.

"Baby, you make the hair sexy not the other way around." She smiles at me then. I pause. "Honey, if I hadn't had a concussion yesterday. Would you be here? I mean I know you probably wouldn't be here now but were you ever going to reach out to me?" I see the look on her face before she responds and I steel myself for her reply.

"I don't know."

"I need more of an answer than that Gail."

"I don't know okay?! I'm sorry. I'm sorry…I truly do not know. I know somehow you smooth out my rough edges. You don't react to me the way everyone else does. I just…I just I can't get it out of my head." I look at her waiting. "What Boob Job, I mean Lisa, said." She looks down at her lap.

"Honey, I told you then that I didn't say any of that. I don't think any of that."

"But Holly she's right. You deserve so much more than me. I'm not stupid. I know I'm the opposite of simple and uncomplicated. I am a beat cop and that may be all I'll ever be and I'm okay with that and I'm proud of my job and what I do. But you deserve so much better than Gail Peck psycho crazy girl. I'm sarcastic, and caustic, and socially awkward. I have a problem showing affection even to people I genuinely care for and…" I pull her face to me roughly and kiss her then trying to convey how I feel about her.

"I'm sorry. You just had to stop talking." I smirk at her when I release her.

"Holly" she sighs.

"That is not the appropriate response."

"Holly Stewart you deserve so much more than me."

"Stop talking. Do not tell me what I deserve. Do not put yourself down again in my presence. I happen to think you're the bravest person I know. You're smart. You're funny. You're like a snarkfest which I absolutely adore. You have an ear for languages. You are so very gorgeous, like 1940s movie star gorgeous, but it's your eyes that really do it for me. I see how much you care in those eyes Gail. I see you. I keep telling you. I. See. You. I happen to think that you deserve much better than the weird science nerd who's a bit socially awkward and evidently has incredibly judgmental and gossipy friends. But, but I'm not stupid enough to let you off the hook if you want to be with me." I pause then and look at her. "Do you still want to be with me Gail?"

"So much."

I kiss her then and pull away slowly. "Good." I purse my lips. "Because you have some things to make up to me." I give her my most sincere predatory smile.

"I do huh?"

"Yes 8 voicemails and 27 text messages worth of making up."

"28" I start to tickle her then. "Stop it!" She squeals. "You know I don't think that your random fact texts about the history of the Toronto police department should count." She pants out.

"They totally should." I stop tickling her.

"Why did I get those again?"

"I felt like I had exhausted all topics surrounding explanations of our misunderstanding, apologies, entreaties etc. I decided to go with a form of communication that was something that I thought you'd find interesting and so I could still at least pretend we were still talking."

"I'm so sorry. I know I hurt you and I promise that in the future, I'll do my best to be an adult so we can talk things out. But I'm probably going to need a cooling off period."

"Deal. But what are you going to do for me in the meantime here?" I pull her right hand up to my lips and kiss her palm.

"Holly, the doctor was very explicit"

"How explicit?" I arch my eyebrow.

She stammers, "I, I mean he said you shouldn't engage in any type of strenuous activity. He was really, really firm about it. I mean not that, that's what you were thinking or anything but I thought I should…" She notices that I'm starting to laugh softly and squints her eyes at me. "So unfair."

"I told you. So much to make up to me."

"So cruel."

"You know I am a doctor and all and I vaguely remember his instructions anyway. I think you do need to entertain me though."

"Okay. What do you want to do?"

"Anything?"

"Within reason and something that is not a strenuous physical activity which, believe me, cuts out most of the things you like to do that I object to and the one or two I really, really, sincerely enjoy."

"Ha!" I kiss her nose then. "I'd love to read but I'm still pretty sensitive to light here. I'm afraid that it will aggravate my headache. Would you read to me?"

"Really?"

"Yes really. I just want to be close to you and I get to hear your voice. I've missed your voice. I've missed you."

"Okay. What do you want me to read?"

"There's a book on my bedside table."

"Okay." She stands up to walk upstairs to get it.

"Do I need to call into work?"

"No. I talked to Traci earlier. She explained to your bosses yesterday why they needed another forensic pathologist on scene. They know why you're out. If you want, I can call them but you have a doctor's note for at least two more days."

"I'll call later today. We've been slammed. I've been working fourteen hour days. I don't want to leave them shorthanded."

"You know I'm off for the next five days."

I consider this. "Well now there's no need to be hasty to get back to work. I don't really feel like I'm a hundred percent yet."

She begins to walk up the stairs, "You just asked me to read to you. You're actually not a hundred percent. Besides I'm supposed to grovel 8 voicemails and 28 text messages worth. Do you want to miss that?"

"27!" I call after her.

While she's upstairs I find my phone. I did have several voicemails from work. I'm checking them and deciding to call my boss after all to give her an update on my condition when the voicemail from Melissa comes on the line – _Holly-Lolly, I'm just checking on you to make sure that you're ok. I realized that I'm not over you and I want us to try again. I talked to Lisa about your girlfriend the beat cop and she told me that she walked out on you three weeks ago and that she thought it was over. You're so much better than that Babe. Please call me. I love…_ I throw the phone across the room and it breaks apart against the wall and knocks over a particularly ugly vase that my sister-in-law gave me which shatters when it hits the hardwood floor.

I hear Gail running down the stairs. "Holly! Holly! Are you okay?!"

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm just mad."

She skids to a halt in her sock feet in front of the couch. She takes in the damage and begins to bite her bottom lip in an effort not to laugh. "So…" she purses her lips. "You want to talk about who or why you're mad?"

"Nope." I cross my arms like a petulant child.

"Okay…How about I sit right here and put my feet up on the coffee table and you lay back and put your head in my lap and let me read to you." She doesn't push. She doesn't seem like she's dying to know why I have uncharacteristically hurled my phone against the wall. She just accepts me and my desire not to talk about it.

"That sounds wonderful."

"So what is this book about?" She asks me as I lay my head in her lap.

"You'll like it. It's about a smartass PI who uses her snarkiness to cover up her insecurities while trying to take down a child pornography ring in The Big Easy. She has an incredibly patient girlfriend who's a doctor from a wealthy family." I smile at her.

"You've already read this?"

"Yeah. A long time ago. But the main character reminds me of you a little bit. I've been rereading a few of my books that have things that remind me of you in them." I look up at her. "It passes the time and keeps me from texting."

"Somehow I don't think texting is going to be a problem for you in the immediate future." She chuckles and then opens the book to cut off any retort I might make.

**Gail**

I've been reading out loud for several hours now. Holly's head in my lap. I'm not sure if she's asleep or not. We took a break for lunch a while back and since then she's been fairly still. She stopped reacting to any plot points about twenty minutes ago. I'm pretty thirsty but I don't want to disturb her. She looks so peaceful, so beautiful. I take a deep breath and say a silent thanks for this moment. I feel like the luckiest woman on the planet. That this woman still believes in me is, well, there's only one word that comes to mind, it's a miracle. I feel like she's my safe haven. I realize in this moment that there is nowhere else in the wide world I want to be. Except my feet are both asleep and are beginning to hurt painfully. I close the book and slowly drag my legs off the coffee table. Silently cursing the needles that follow. I realize that no matter how much I want to stay I'm going to have to get up if only to speed up the wakeup process for my feet. I gently raise Holly's head and pull a throw pillow under it easing myself out from under her carefully. She barely stirs. "Fuck" I whisper as I stand up. I tentatively walk away from the couch into the kitchen. I open the fridge and get out a bottle of water. Holly has these refillable no BPA plastic bottles that she uses. When I asked about it she just said she was raised by hippies. She just quietly does these little things that reinforce my belief in what a good person she is. God I'm turning into such a sap! She makes me all gooey about recycling and conservation even! I drink about half the bottle and continue to pace the kitchen trying to walk off the tingles. I decide to order some takeout from that Thai place that she loves. I call from the downstairs bathroom and instruct them to have the delivery guy text my phone rather than knocking. I quietly mill about the kitchen getting out plates and silverware. About twenty-five minutes later a loud pounding on the door startles me. Whoa! Some guy just lost his tip. Holly doesn't have a peephole. I've been telling her she needs to get one but I don't even think about it honestly. I open the door and say just that "Dude you just lost your tip."

Then several things happen at once. The door gets shoved into my face and I have a full blown PTSD flashback. I'm not sure I could tell you what really happened in the next few seconds all I can feel is helplessness and Perik hoisting me up in the air. So I may or may not have swung first. Hell, I probably did because all I could think about was that it was not going to happen again and I'd be dammed if I let him have Holly.

The next thing I know Holly is pulling at my shoulders from behind. "Gail! Gail! Stop!" I come to then with my hands around Melissa's throat sitting across her abdomen my knees resting on her shoulders. I get up and stagger back. So shaken at what has happened, at what I've done.

Melissa coughs and sputters. Rolling on her side she looks at me, "You're insane! I'll have your badge!"

Holly pays her no attention and approaches me like you would a feral cat. She says very softly "Gail, Honey, are you okay?" I shake my head no. "Okay. It's going to be okay." She says to me and only me. She walks over to the counter and picks up my phone and dials. "This is Dr. Holly Stewart. I'd like to report a trespasser in my home. Could you please send some officers over? Yes. Thank You."

She puts the phone down on the counter. Then she finally focuses on the woman who has now moved to a sitting position on her floor. "Melissa what are you doing here?" Holly says tiredly.

"I came to see how you were. You didn't answer any of my calls. And she attacked me!" Melissa shrieks.

"You will calm down and lower your voice. My head is still hurting from yesterday." Holly says matter-of-factly as she sits on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. "I'm afraid my phone is out of service." She snickers.

I look at Holly then and I'm afraid that the surreal nature of the situation has gotten to her. She is starting to laugh, genuinely laugh. I've attacked her ex-girlfriend in her entryway and Melissa is still sitting on the floor rubbing her neck. I start to say something but she holds up her hand to stop me. "I'm okay" she says.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it" Melissa says from the floor. "Now why don't you send Ronda Rousey here home and we can talk like civilized humans."

I don't know who Holly called or how they got here so fast but there's a knock on the door. Holly walks over and opens the door. It's McNally and Chris. "Officers. Good to see you. I have an unwanted guest." She gestures to Melissa on the floor. "Would you please escort her outside?"

"Now wait just a minute! Wait just a minute! She attacked me!" Melissa points at me frantically.

Holly looks at Andy and Chris. She says pointedly, "Melissa shoved the door in Gail's face as she forced her way inside. It struck her." McNally understands immediately having seen my face minutes after Perik had broken into her apartment.

"Do you want to press charges?" McNally looks at me grimly but says nothing else for which I'm grateful.

"No."

"Is this that thin blue line crap? I'll take this to the top! You won't get away with this!" Melissa says as Chris is helping her up off the floor.

"Dr. Stewart, do you want to press charges?" Andy asks.

"Yes. Do I have to fill something out now?"

"I'm afraid so." Andy replies.

"Alright."

"Holly you can't be serious!" Melissa is incredulous as Chris begins to escort her outside. He gets her outside the door and shuts it but not before shooting me a small encouraging smile.

"She can't really make any trouble for Gail can she?" Holly asks Andy.

"Did you see the whole thing?"

"Yes, she was pounding on my door which woke me up and Gail said something about 'Dude you just lost your tip' and then she shoved the door back into Gail and Gail reacted instinctively."

As if on cue my cellphone chirps. "That will be the Thai" I say.

Andy walks over to the door and opens it to a slightly confused delivery guy. I pull some money out of my pocket and hand it over to her. She takes the order, thanks him and shuts the door before I can hear what Melissa is saying on the front lawn to Chris. She puts the food on the counter and turns to Holly. "Well it's the two of you against her so I think it's fairly straightforward."

"I don't remember what happened" I finally say.

"Gail, I know exactly what happened and I know why it happened." Holly says. "It's going to be okay. She should not have come over. She should not have forced her way inside."

I'm shaken to my core and I begin to sway. Oddly, it's Andy who notices first. "C'mon champ let's sit you down." She sits me on the stool that Holly vacated when she opened the door for Andy and Chris.

I'm about to cry. I can feel it. I don't want to do it in front of Andy. Holly looks at me and brushes her hand along my shoulder soothingly. "Andy is there any way we can do this tomorrow?"

I already know the answer to this. "There's not." I reach up and pat Holly's hand. "Holly, can you hand me my water?" I release a breath that I didn't know I was holding. She hands it to me. I take a long drink and start. "McNally, get your notebook out. I'm not going through this twice." She does and I begin again. "The redhead outside is Dr. Melissa Carson she's a resident at St Pat's and Holly's ex-girlfriend."

"How did you know she was a resident?" Holly asks me.

"She had on the same color scrubs as Rachel. I assumed it worked the same way as Grey's Anatomy." I shrugged.

"She is a resident." Holly confirms for McNally.

"Anyway," I look emphatically at Holly who holds up her hands indicating that she won't interrupt me again "I met her yesterday in the ER while we were waiting on Holly's tests. She burst in without an invitation. Holly asked her to leave. She wanted to reconcile with Holly I think and didn't like that I was there. We exchanged a few words and she lunged at me. I restrained her against the wall, told her to leave and released her. Dr. Rachel Andrews can corroborate this. I'm not sure how much Holly remembers.

"Tonight I was waiting for our takeout. I had asked the delivery driver to text me instead of knocking because Holly was asleep and I didn't want him to wake her. Melissa was pounding on the door. I was just annoyed. I didn't think twice about it and I should have. The next thing I know, I get a face full of door again and…and…"

"Gail it's okay." Holly returns her hand to my shoulder. She has a look on her face that is unreadable to me. I'm afraid that I'm too broken for her and that somehow she might be afraid of me now. I'm pretty sure I'm afraid of me now.

I continue "Andy, honestly, I'm not sure what happened next. I mean I know what I thought was happening but I sort of came back to myself with my hands around her throat and Holly was pulling me off of her."

Holly takes up the story then, "I woke up to the pounding on the door. I had just sat up and looked over when Gail said, 'Dude you just lost your tip' and then Melissa shoved the door at Gail, I assume to make sure she got past her and inside. It hit Gail in the head. Gail reached for Melissa's arm as she was advancing on me. Melissa spun around to strike Gail and Gail ducked then tackled her like a linebacker. By the time I got up and over there she had her hands around Melissa's throat. The whole thing was over in a few seconds."

I assume trying to lighten the situation, Andy raises her hand up to me with a grin, "High-five champ?"

"Not funny McNally. I kicked a Dr.'s ass. Wow so hard."

"Actually she has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We both do." Holly said.

I turn to look and her at the same time as McNally. I catch McNally's expression. She's looking at Holly like she has three heads. I'm sure my expression mirrors hers. Holly couldn't have shocked me more if she'd said she was a stripper to put herself through med school. Actually, that's more believable. I've seen her talents in that area and they are, let's go with extensive. I pull myself out of the fog of arousal that I suddenly and unexpectedly find myself in and manage "What the what?"

McNally points at me and says "What she said."

"Oh for the love of God. Just because I spend my day looking at things in a microscope or using surgical tools does not mean I can't enjoy physical activity." Holly crosses her arms.

"Holly just this morning you said you were a pacifist at heart. Now you tell me you're some sort of MMA badass. I'm sorry but those things seem mutually exclusive."

"Fine" she rolls her eyes "It's all about angles and mathematics. It's also the reason I'm pretty good at pool."

"I've played you at pool before and beat you and I kinda suck." McNally replies.

"Gail was distracting me with her cleavage and I was incredibly drunk. That reminds me, why were you distracting me Gail? Shouldn't you have been on my side?"

"Side bet. Do you remember it?" I say as I smile. I see Holly's face and I can tell by the blush that she does. The memory of exactly what I won that night washes over me and I'm glad I'm sitting down. It settles me like nothing else tonight has. I feel like I can breathe again.

Holly clears her throat. "Andy is that everything? I'm incredibly tired and I'm sure Gail would like to eat."

"When doesn't Gail want to eat?" Andy laughs. I scowl at them both but without any real heat behind it. "Gail?" Andy starts to raise her hand to my forearm but stops herself "you didn't do anything wrong tonight. You perceived a threat from someone forcing themselves into your girlfriend's home. You were protecting her and yourself. That's what is going in the report. I'll follow up with Dr. Andrews but this is done."

I think of all the sharp comebacks that I could use to cover up that this is exactly what I needed to hear from McNally but in the end I go with a simple "Thank you." Holly looks at me like she's a proud kindergarten teacher. "What?" I snarl at her.

"There she is." She puts her arms around my waist and kisses my forehead which is tender.

"Do I have a bruise? Did that bitch disfigure me?" I touch my forehead.

"Yeah. Y'all have matching head wounds." Andy smiles like it's the most romantic thing she's ever heard of.

"McNally."

"I know. I know. We're going to take Dr. Carson for a ride and book her for at least forced entry if not assault. We'll also make sure that we note that she keeps contacting you Holly. She seems to be escalating. We need to get a record of her behavior. You also need a peep hole."

"Thank you!" I raise my first finger into the air.

"I'll have one tomorrow." Holly says. "Thank you so much Andy. Thank Chris for me too. I think he got the worst end of the deal."

"I dunno. I had to deal with Gail. When Oliver called us we weren't sure if Gail was your trespasser or not. I'm glad to see the two of you seem to have made up." Andy smiles her most annoying McNally smile.

"Oh God Holly. You called Oliver?" I put my head in my hands.

"Can you think of a better person to get a discrete police presence here in a hurry?"

"No."

"There you go." She replies. "You trust him. So I called him."

I turn to Andy "McNally?"

"Gail I told you. You haven't done anything wrong. The report will reflect that. Besides you know we have to document Dr. Carson's behavior for Holly's sake."

"You're right."

Andy walks to the door with Holly following behind her to lock the door. "Goodnight guys. I hope this doesn't ruin your evening."

Holly replies, "I refuse to let that woman ruin anything else in my life. Goodnight Andy and thank you again."

I say "Goodnight McNally." As Holly locks the door and we're finally alone.

"Well at least dinner finally got here." I gesture to the Thai. "Do you want me to fix yours? I got you that curry dish you love with Tofu."

She walks over to me then and wraps me up in a tight hug. Resting her head on my shoulder. This isn't typical. She's very quiet and then I feel her shake. I pull her away so I can look at her face. She's crying. I've never seen Holly cry. The closest I ever came was that night at the Penny but this…she's on the verge of hysterical.

"Holly? Holly? What is it? What's wrong?" I'm frightened thinking that I've upset her that my behavior tonight is the cause of this.

"B…Baby…I…I'm so so sorry." She begins crying so hard I can barely understand her and the fear that has already started in the pit of my stomach blooms into full blown panic. She's going to say she can't do this. She's going to say that I'm too much of a head case. Just a bit too crazy. She takes a breath and starts again not crying quite as hard "I'm so sorry she hurt you. I'm so sorry that my past has hurt you. Baby, please, please I'm so sorry. I can't believe she did that. I never want to be the reason you get hurt. You should never have to relive anything that causes you that much pain. I'm so sorry baby. So sorry." She's holding my face in her hands now.

"What?" I'm so confused. "Holly, you didn't do anything. I'm the one that almost killed her. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't pulled me off of her. I'm so sorry. It scared me. I didn't know what was going on."

"Gail, baby, you had a flashback didn't you?" I nod my head. "She hit you with the door and you staggered back and she was past you but you kept her from coming into the house further. I think you thought she was going to hurt me. You pulled her back toward you and you maneuvered your body between me and her. You were protecting me. Even though I don't think you thought it was her at the time. Did you?"

"No. I thought it was Perik." I whisper. This seems to break Holly even more. She begins to sob. I pull her into a hug. "Shhh. Shhh it's okay. It'll be okay"

"No Gail it's not. You faced your worst fear tonight. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me. I watched it happen. I'm not sure I'll ever be okay again. That was the bravest, stupidest thing I've ever seen." I'm not really sure how to react to that so I hug her tighter. She says "I don't deserve you."

Whoa. Now this was just getting stupid. So I take_ her_ head in_ my_ hands and kiss her purposefully. She doesn't ramble often but she was right before this is the most effective way of communication when one of us is saying something stupid. I pull back a little breathless. "Holly, look at me." She does. "You are the most wonderful person I've ever met. To say that you don't deserve me may be the most idiotic thing you've ever said in your life. It's definitely the most unintelligent thing you've ever said to me."

"Gail, I wish you could see you the way I see you." She reaches down and takes both of my hands in hers. I just look at her skeptically. "No, I mean it. You are the bravest person I know. The most honorable. You stand up for people that cannot stand up for themselves. You don't even think about it. You hide it behind all that adorable snark and sarcasm but it still shines through."

"Only to you." I say. "Wait. What? Adorable? That's not a Peck descriptor. I refuse to be described as adorable."

"You have very little choice in the matter. You. Are. Adorable." She kisses me with each word softly and sweetly then sighs. "Absolutely irresistible. I was lost from the moment you called me smelly."

I laugh. "Oh really?"

"Yes really." She thinks a moment. I can see the debate behind her eyes.

"Spit it out Holly."

"I think…I think you need to book an appointment with your psychologist." She stares down at our hands. I'm not sure what to think. She presses on "I'm worried that this will bring up some things. I don't like you saying that you're scared. What are you scared of exactly?"

"Me. What I'm capable of. What I did tonight not knowing. What if that happens between me and you? What if I wake up in the middle of the night in a one of my nightmares and I hurt you? I couldn't stand that Holly. I couldn't."

"Do you think you haven't had nightmares in my bed Gail?" She tilts her head at me in that infuriatingly calm way.

"What?"

"You've had nightmares in my bed before. Do you not remember any of it?"

"No."

"The first time you were high as a kite on oxycodone. So it doesn't surprise me." I look at her puzzled. "When you burned your wrist before we dated. Anyway, I think you may even have mild night terrors because you look like you're awake and speak very clearly. I thought after the first few minutes of it or so that you were awake but you weren't. You spoke to me like I was Perik, called me by his name. Told me my wingtips didn't scare you anymore but that you felt weird. I explained to you that I was Dr. Holly Stewart, I thought the title might calm you down since you didn't seem to know who I was, maybe you'd think I was a hospital doctor. Anyway, I said that you had burned your wrist and I was taking care of you and had given you something for the pain. Then you told me the story of your abduction in great detail and with clarity. I was trying to process it all, thinking about how to respond, when you told me that you really were exhausted and just wanted to go back to sleep. The next morning I realized that you hadn't been awake for the exchange and didn't remember it. I wasn't sure how to handle that I knew something about you that you may not have wanted me to know so I said nothing.

"The next time it happened was about a week after the Ford shootings. You had been working almost double-shifts. You walked in that night absolutely exhausted. I put you to bed after helping you change. Do you remember?" I shake my head no. "You woke up screaming for Oliver. I shushed you reminded you that he was safe. That Chloe was safe. Sam was safe. Everyone was ok. You finally calmed down and snuggled back into me, into my neck crying in your sleep. I played with your hair until you fell asleep but I couldn't get back to sleep that night. The next morning I still didn't have a way to talk to you about things you might not want me to know so I still didn't say anything.

"I'm not scared of you Gail. I'm scared for you. You carry all of this around inside you and it claws to get out. It shreds you from the inside. I know you'd never hurt me physically. I don't think you're capable of it. But I'm terrified, _terrified_ that your demons are going to push you away from me again. I can't stand seeing you hurt like this. Knowing what it does to you. I'll listen to anything you want to say on the subject but I think we both need for you to see someone about this professionally."

"Okay. I'll call and make an appointment tomorrow." Now it's Holly's turn to look at me like I have three heads.

"That was easy." She eyes me suspiciously. "I was prepared for a more, vehement, discussion."

"Funny. Look, I'm not going to sit by while something 'terrifies' you. I don't have words for what you mean to me and I'm not willing to lose you again so if that means seeing the shrink then that's what I'll do. I won't like it. I'll kinda hate it and I'll probably bitch and whine about it but I'll go because the alternative is unacceptable."

She looks down squeezes my hands again. "Thank you." Her breath shudders out and I realize she's crying again.

"Hey, hey, that's not supposed to make you cry."

"I can't help it. You amaze me. Constantly amaze me. People don't surprise me and you shock the hell out of me on a regular basis."

"Tell you what. If it makes you feel better then you can go to the shrink too." I smile at her.

"I already do."

"Huh. But you're so…calm."

She laughs at me then. Pulls me to my feet by my hands. "C'mon let's feed you Peck. I know how crisis makes you hungry. Then we can start my list of things you can do for the groveling."

"I think seeing a shrink should count as the 8 voicemails."

"What about the 27 text messages?"

"28" I say as she kisses me silent.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey folks,**

**I thought I owed you a little fluffy fun after the last chapter. I really just wrote this because Chloe amuses me so much. I hope my take on her amuses you. Please let me know what you think good or bad. I do so love reviews. If you have any questions or requests I could try to address those as well.**

**Thanks again for all the follows and favs. I own nothing but the mistakes.**

**Holly**

I look over at Traci her long loping stride easily matching my own. It's good to have her as a running partner. She covers ground much the same way I do and she does not need to speak incessantly, like some of my other partners, but she can carry on a conversation if the situation calls for it.

"Do you know why Gail wants me to come to the station after our run?" I ask.

"Nope. She just said and I quote, 'Meet me in the station gym by 9am and make sure she still has her workout clothes on' unquote." She looks over at me.

"Should I be scared?"

"Definitely." She smiles widely. Then changes the subject, "So things are going well for the two of you?" I know Traci is Gail's closest friend but I'm pretty sure that I tell her more about our relationship than Gail does. The woman is like a vault, at least she is with me. I never hear anything that Gail has said about our relationship from Traci and I'm pretty sure Traci wouldn't tell Gail anything I've said in confidence. I figure Traci is just trying to get the lay of the land so to speak in case Gail does confide in her so I decide to be as honest as I can be.

"They are. We're taking it slow. I mean it's hard to put that sexual genie back in the bottle once she's out but considering I only got cleared for 'strenuous activity' at the end of last week and Gail and I have been on opposite schedules this week with both of us working overtime, we've been forced to talk or text a lot more. It's allowed us to set up some ground rules this time, sort of define where we are. Before we went from "just friends" to a couple in the space of twenty-four hours. I want to do things differently this time. We have an actual date on Friday."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not telling." I smirk over at her. "I told her to pick out three outfits from casual to semi-formal and I'd let her know which one on Friday afternoon. At Frank and Noelle's wedding she told me the best part of a date was getting dressed. Maybe I'm trying to draw that part out for her. I've been very, very secretive." We both laugh. Gail hates secrets.

Traci stops laughing and gives me a sidelong glance. "Chris is very sweet and Nick seems to be very earnest but I don't think either of them were very romantic. Gail told me once that Nick tried to make her breakfast as a sweet gesture and forgot she was allergic to tomatoes. I don't think they really paid attention to who Gail is if you know what I mean."

"I want to know her. I want to know all of her…if she'll let me. I get the feeling that she's been made to feel like she's not enough. We've talked about that night she met my friends at the Penny and I think that's at the heart of it – that somehow she'd always be second choice, not good enough. I want her to know that she's the person I want." I finish seriously.

Traci smiles at that "Gail is amazing. She hides it well under all that bitchiness. I like to think that the real Gail is the one I see playing with Leo. I see that same Gail come out when she's with you. I think you are good for each other."

I smile back at her as we enter the final stretch of our run. "Race ya!" I take off.

"No fair!" I hear Traci call out as she scrambles to catch up with me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

We enter the station and walk through to the gym where it seems most of 15 is waiting gathered around what looks to be a wrestling mat. I see Dov, Chloe, Andy, Nick and a few others that I recognize. Traci and Gail are both in serious, serious trouble. I look at Traci.

"Don't look at me. I just work here." Traci melts away from my side into the crowd.

I look around and I spot that impish platinum head. I catch her attention and wave her over. She struts over to me. Struts and smiles. If she wasn't so goddamn sexy in that uniform I would be tempted to leave before she got over here. As it is, I can barely contain my desire to grab her, kiss her senseless then make my escape.

"Good morning Lunchbox. I hope you're not planning your escape." She puts her arms on my shoulders, kisses me lightly then withdraws.

"How did you know?"

"A) I'm a police officer B) I know you C) I'm awesome"

"Smartass. Why am I and all of 15 here?"

"Not all and I'm about to tell you. So remember Gerald?"

"No."

"You know the dumbass that gave you a concussion?"

"I thought his name was Duncan Moore?"

"Whatever" she waves her hand dismissively. "Oliver has assigned him to me since he's been reinstated. Evidently, my last name is handy regardless of how I feel about it personally." She quips but I can tell that the fact that her family name has again dictated an aspect of her job bothers her more than she wants to let anyone, even me, know. "Anyway, as his T.O. I can make him recertify for hand to hand combat training. So, would you like to exact some revenge?" She says then picks up a pair of MMA gloves off a nearby table.

"What?"

"I want him to have to recertify against you. If you're not up for it, I asked Noelle to come down. She hasn't beaten anyone with her baton in ages and I think she'd actually get a kick out of it. She holds the record for quickest win anyway. So, if you don't feel like you're up to the challenge…"

"This is because I admitted I know some mixed martial arts isn't it?" I narrow my eyes at her.

"Holly, if he recertifies he can go in the field and he'll be my partner. I happen to believe Andy and I'm not real thrilled about having him be my only backup if the situation calls for it. He's an arrogant, scared ass and he'll underestimate you. I need him to begin to understand that his judgment in these types of situations isn't what he needs to lean on. He needs to understand that he doesn't know it all and that experience helps you with things that you can't anticipate. There are things he doesn't see readily, situations that he misjudges, and that he needs to do what I say when I say it. Plus there's the humiliation side benny."

"Side benny?

"Side benefit. Having a civilian kick his ass in front of most of the division would be fairly humiliating." She smiles widely.

"What if I can't beat him? What if I'm not as good as you think I am?" I arch my eyebrow.

She looks at me seriously and stares into my eyes, "You are the most competitive person I know. You don't graduate first in your med school class without being competitive and if you say you can do something, you can do it. You are surprisingly humble for being almost as awesome as me." I'm stunned into silence at her utter conviction and belief in me. "Tell you what, I'll throw in a sexual favor of your choosing if you beat him as a side bet. You can collect anytime, anywhere." She grins at me.

"Gail how exactly is that 'taking it slow'?"

"You don't have to collect anytime soon and only if you want to. Gah! Get your mind out of the gutter Lunchbox. Besides, because of him you told me, in a ninety minute period, how gorgeous I am about fifty times the other day. Because of him, Melissa tried to force her way back into your life…"

"Fine. Give me the damn gloves." I hold out my hand and she grins maniacally.

**Gail**

This may be the best idea I've ever had. I get to watch Holly in action doing actual sparring. I've been intrigued since she said she had a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In the past two weeks I've managed to wheedle out of her that she also has knowledge in Muay Thai, and something called Krav Maga whatever the hell that is. I hold the whistle around my neck between my teeth and blow to get everyone's attention.

"Okay we're going to spread out and give them some room." I spread my arms out. Everyone begins to move back. "Gerald! Not you. You come forward."

"Ma'am, it's Duncan." I just stare at him. He begins to stare at the floor.

"Rookie" I pause to see if he will foolishly try and correct me again, "You will be fighting Dr. Stewart this morning. You may remember her. You gave her a concussion a couple of weeks ago."

He looks up at Holly. "I remember. I'm sorry Dr. Stewart but it really wasn't my fault. You see…"

She cuts him off. "Officer Moore, the apology would be more effective if it wasn't followed by a deflection of blame. Good luck." She holds out her hand and stares at him, just stares and all of a sudden those eyes that are so warm when I look into them have all the warmth of a shark's.

Oh my God! Holly is pissed! I'm so excited I'm sure my face looks like I'm a girl guide hopped up on boxes and boxes of cookies. Ummmm. Cookies. The rookie shakes Holly's hand and they walk back to the edges of our sparring area. I back up into the crowd between Chloe and Andy. "Okay, first one to quit, get knocked out etc. loses. No real rules because, hey, there are no rules on the street. I'll whistle to begin and then when we have a winner. Any questions?"

"Nope" Holly says.

"How long do we have to do this Officer Peck?"

"Until I blow the whistle the second time. Geez Gerald pay attention."

I blow the whistle to start. They circle each other and Holly lands a few jabs to the face snapping the rookie's head back a few times. Then she backs off a bit. She's quick. Much quicker than even I thought she'd be. She punches his body a couple of times and follows it up with a knee to the ribcage. He staggers back again. She backs off again. She's toying with him. I can tell by the look on her face. She looks totally and completely in control. This, this is why I wanted to see this. It's a complete and utter turn on. It's the same look she gets when she's solving a puzzle in the lab but her whole being is involved. She is magnificent. Holly then backs up a bit and just sort of extends her leg kicking him dead center in the chest. He staggers back.

People are screaming. I hear Traci "Go Holly!" and some of the rookie's friends "Don't let the dead doc beat you Duncan!" Dov is yelling too but I can't really tell if he's on a side. More and more chants are called out as the fight continues.

Beside me Chloe says, "I gotta tell ya Gail I think I just fell a little in lady love with Holly."

"Me too." Andy agrees never taking her eyes off Holly who is circling a dazed Gerald.

"McNally! We're not there yet. Don't even joke about it." I don't take my eyes off Holly either but I can see out of the corner of my eye that Andy has turned to look at me now.

"Right. Sorry."

"Whatever. Don't look like a kicked puppy okay? You just can't joke about Holly. I think I might be able to take some Nick jokes from you in the future, again still not there yet, but not Holly. Not ever Holly." I say. Andy smiles tentatively.

Chloe continues on either obliviously or to combat the tension of the moment. I can never tell with her. "I mean she's just so _forceful_ and look at those abs. What is she some sort of P90x junky or something? How do you stand it? I mean I'm not inclined that way but she could change my religion. I feel all itchy just thinking about it."

"Chloe!"

"What? It's an observation. I can observe. I just never really put Holly's personality together with this. This, you have to admit Gail, is pretty hot." Chloe retorts. "I mean a mind like that and now ninja like skills? Again, how do you stand it? Itchy. Itchy."

"Chloe!"

"C'mon Gail. Spill it. Is she this take charge in the bedroom? I bet she is. I mean I thought lady love would be all gentle and feelings but I bet with her it can get all hot and a little dirty."

"I'm not discussing this. Ever. Just stop it."

I see that Gerald has managed to get Holly in a hug to stop the pounding he's been taking and her shirt is riding up to her sports bra. I look around and see that Chloe isn't the only one taking in the spectacular shape and athletic proficiency of my girlfriend. Dammit! This is the worst idea I've ever had. Holly pushes him back and then I don't even know if I can describe it. It all happens instantaneously. She sort of climbs him like a spider monkey or something and then her legs are on his shoulders and Bam! She takes him to ground and his head slams into the matt and has his right arm extended out and she's got him in some sort of hold bending it back at an awkward angle. It looks like it hurts. A lot.

"Holy fuck." I hear McNally mutter. My thoughts exactly.

"Gail, Gail, I think he's trying to tap out." Chloe says.

"What?" Then I look and see Gerald frantically moving his free hand on the mat. I blow the whistle. I walk over and help Holly up and hold up one of her arms. "The winner!" The room explodes with people yelling. Holly leans over and whispers into the rookie's ear. His eyes go wide at whatever she says to him. Then people are moving in to congratulate Holly but I hear a voice above the crowd.

"Peck! Peck! You will explain yourself." Oliver walks up to me. He steers me by the elbow off to the corner of the room. "Why is _my_ rookie, and _your trainee_, fighting the good doctor?"

"Oliver" I begin with a smile. He glares at me. I change tactics and go the more formal route. "Staff Sergeant Shaw, as his training officer I have the prerogative to have him recertify in a physical fitness category of my choosing if he's off regular duty for a period of time during his training period."

"Why Dr. Stewart? Did you do it to humiliate him?"

I roll my eyes "That's not the only reason but it was a great secondary motivator."

"I'm waiting."

"Look Oliver," I sigh "Staff Sergeant Shaw, he's an arrogant ass. This was a training exercise in never underestimating your opponent. I…the department, needs him to be better at that if he ever gets back in the field. He needs to understand that there are circumstances he must factor in to the situation that he cannot see. This lesson comes with a nice helping of humiliation. Maybe it'll help it stick. Maybe he'll be more likely to follow instructions and orders. Save some lives including mine."

He finally cracks a smile, "and if Dr. Stewart declined your Thunderdome idea?"

"Oh Noelle is here with her baton." I smile back at him.

"So it was a stacked deck then." He grins widely. "I've always liked your style Gail. Always have liked your style. I'll still need your report about how and why the rookie failed his recertification test and is still unfit for field duty before the end of shift." He walks away.

I smile to myself. I look around then and notice the crowd of people around Holly. Yeah this was my worst idea ever. I didn't quite think this all the way through. Men and women are ogling my girlfriend. My girlfriend. Is she my girlfriend? Did she agree to that? I mean she's taking me on a date on Friday but did we do the girlfriend label? If we didn't, I think I want to. I see Luck from 27 over there. What the hell? What the hell is she doing here and why is she smiling like that at my girlfriend? Yep definitely want that girlfriend title. Back to Luck – so not only is she hitting on Holly it seems she's ditched me. Slut. I'm offended on two levels. It's weird and not the good kind of weird either. I walk over and hear part of the conversation.

"I mean wow that was so wow. Where did you learn that stuff?" Luck evidently is quite the communicator. I've never really paid that much attention to the stuff coming out of her mouth before. Seems I didn't miss much.

"A few places." Holly sees me then and smiles like we are both party to an inside joke and we are. Holly was planning Luck's death and dismemberment less than two weeks ago.

"Luck" I nod at her.

"Peck. Nice show you put on here. I was just telling Dr. Stewart here that she could come and kick our rookie's asses anytime at 27. I'd be happy to coordinate it or you could give me some pointers even."

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that statement (I mean is she hitting on me and Holly at the same time? Lesbian flirting is so confusing.) when Holly speaks. "No I'm afraid this was a one-time only event. I only did it because Gail asked me so nicely." She reaches over and trails her hand down my forearm and leans in to kiss my cheek. I look at her and she winks at me. "I'm going to enjoy collecting that on that bet." She winks at me again. "Now I need to get to the morgue. Is Traci responsible for that too or just getting me here?"

"Chloe is supposed to...Chloe?!"

"I'm here." She steps out from behind McNally. "Holly, Gail brought your gym bag and a change of clothes. Hopefully, it has everything you need. If you'll just follow me, I'll take you to the ladies locker room and after you're done, I can run you over to the morgue."

"Thanks." Holly says as they walk out of the room.

Luck is looking at me stunned. "Yeah, it's like that." I reply.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gail**

It's Friday night, finally, two days after the fight at the station and one day after my first appointment with the department therapist since I promised Holly I'd start seeing her again. Honestly, the therapy appointment wasn't as bad as the fallout from the fight but I'll never tell Holly that. For the past sixty hours or so I've been subjected to all sorts of ribbing by 15. '_Ohh better be careful or Gail will make Holly beat you up.' 'I'm gonna tell Holly and let her kick your ass." _And my personal favorite after I chased a perp for four blocks, tackled him and cuffed him he says, '_Damn Dyke_' to me and Chris replies to him '_Dude! If she can beat you up, you don't wanna meet her girlfriend.'_ If it wasn't for the prospect of our date tonight I'd be in a foul mood.

Holly texted me at three today to let me know to dress nicely but not formally for our date tonight. It's now almost seven and she's supposed to be here any minute. I've opted for a little black dress with "fuck me" heels that will make me a bit taller than Holly unless she wears heels. I've checked my lipstick for what seems to be the twentieth time tonight. It's something red named "New Temptation" and I'm hoping that I will be. I'm so nervous. I don't know why I'm so nervous. It's just Holly, but I'm nervous because it's Holly. We never did this before. We never 'dated' before. I just sorta moved in mostly. I have no idea where we're going tonight but I wanted to wear something that would make me feel pretty. I need to feel pretty after the last couple of days. I realize also that I want to look pretty for Holly. I want Holly to look at me like she used to look at me before we were apart. I told the therapist about that about how she still looked guarded around me. I said I still felt like there was something off between us and she said it would probably take time. God! I wish she would hurry up and get here already. I can't continue to spin like this out of control with my thoughts.

There's a knock at the door. I smooth my dress down and take a deep breath to try and center myself before opening the door. 1, 2, 3, another breath. 4, 5, 6, another. Finally, I open the door. She's standing there in a gauzy, black button down shirt with gray, what I'd call Kathryn Hepburn slacks, with little black boots with small heels. Her hair is down and to one side. She is staring at me intently. My heart rolls over in my chest at the sight of her.

"Hey" I manage. She is so effortlessly beautiful.

"Gail, you look…well, gorgeous." She smiles shyly.

"I can evidently manage gorgeous in my uniform according to you. I was aiming higher." I deadpan.

She walks up to me slowly, deliberately, never taking her eyes off mine, slides her hands along my neck and cups my jaw. She leans in and whispers across my lips, "You can't improve perfection Gail. Though I am glad that you tried. You look stunning. How's that?" My entire body is tingling. Before I can reply her lips are on mine. So gentle, so soft it's like she's still whispering. She kisses me for a long moment and then her tongue ghosts along my top lip in a move she knows I can't resist and I moan into her mouth. She hums in response. She pulls back slightly and says something. I have no idea what because my brain is busy short-circuiting.

"I'm sorry. What?"

She pulls back further and moves her hands to rest lightly on my hips. Smirking she says, "Are you ready to go?"

"Not if you keep kissing me like that I'm not."

"I'll try to refrain but I'm only human." She moves her hands from my hips and holds out her hands to take mine. "You do look stunning Gail. Absolutely, unequivocally, stunning. I'm glad you enjoy getting ready for dates so much."

"Really? You're never ever going to let me live that down are you?" I reach up with my thumb and run it along her bottom lip to remove some of my lipstick.

She nips it slightly and then says, "Probably not. But just think of the pressure I'm under. I have to make this date better than the anticipation of going on it. I have to deliver a date worthy of that outfit. It's not for the faint-hearted."

"Somehow I think you'll manage." I narrow my eyes at her.

"Only one way to find out. Shall we?"

**Holly**

As we follow the maître d' to our table at the restaurant I see eyes all over the restaurant track to Gail. I can't blame them. She is breathtaking. She knows she's beautiful but at the same time I think the attention she gets from it bothers her but you'd never know it right now. She struts to our table. Not the badass cop strut. This one is different, like a model walking down a runway. The little black dress clings to her in all the right places and all I can think of is peeling it off of her with my teeth while she screams my name.

Back up there Stewart. Slow. Taking things slow. We agreed. You agreed. Slow. Slow does not include the naked slide show playing in my head now. In my defense, I've never really gotten to see Gail all dressed up for me and it's intoxicating. When we were just friends she would come over to my house sometimes after her blind dates and I was always a bit jealous of whoever she had dressed up for. I was so busy trying to put all my burgeoning feelings for her in the proper perspective that I never really let myself fantasize about her like this and it was coming back at me with a vengeance tonight. She put that dress on for me. I smile at the thought.

When I asked her out I realized that I've never taken her on a proper date. I'd hardly count the batting cages. By the time I had the chance to take her out we'd fallen into take-out or me cooking at my apartment. Not that I minded at the time. There's nothing quite like eating Chinese food naked especially the way that Gail does it.

I bring my mind back to the present. We are one of fifteen couples here tonight. I've picked this unusual experience for Gail and I hope she enjoys it. The waiter comes to our table with a tray. He places it on the table and it's four tequila shots, limes and salt. She arches an eyebrow at me and turns her head slightly as if to ask a question.

The waiter gestures rather flamboyantly. "My name is Brad and I will be your server tonight. Welcome to Chef Dujardin's tailored dining experience. Tonight you will experience a meal created just for you and your palate. We have taken your suggestions and we begin with your pre-meal cocktail. Tequila!" He claps his hands together.

"What suggestions? Though the tequila is a good start." Gail begins.

"You must be Ms. Peck. Dr. Stewart has provided us all the meal information. I hope you enjoy it. Now please take your tequila shots. Your appetizers should be out in about five minutes."

"Thank you Brad." I say.

"You're welcome Dr. Stewart. I'll be bringing your other drinks shortly."

"What is this Holly?"

"Do your shots and sit back and enjoy it Honey. It will be a meal of your favorite things."

"I don't get to order?" She asks with trepidation.

"I got the tequila shots right didn't I?" I smirk.

"Yes, but I have a delicate palate."

I laugh. "Of course you do Gail."

"You told them about…"

"Yes. I told them no free-standing eggs and that you are allergic to tomatoes."

"Oh. Okay."

"Look, if you don't like this, we'll go by a drive-thru on the way to our next stop. I just wanted to take you somewhere special, make you feel special. I know how you love food and I thought this was the best way…"

"I'm sorry. I'll give it a chance. I promise. Thank you for this. I do feel special." She says contritely.

I pick up a tequila shot and raise it in front of me. "To new beginnings"

She does the same. "To new beginnings"

We both do the shot and then suck on limes. The appetizers arrive. There is one for each of us. Mine I'm sure will have some sort of zucchini and squash ingredients. Gail's is a color that does not occur in nature. It's cheese puff orange. "Ladies, your appetizers. Dr. Stewart, grilled veggies with shredded fresh Parmesan cheese. Ms. Peck, lobster pasta with cheese puff topping."

Gail looks at Brad and then me and squeals, actually squeals, in delight. "Yeee!" She takes a bite and then throws her head back and moans. Loudly. Brad disappears. She takes another bite. Same result.

The sound of her moan resonates throughout my body. "Gail, I'm trying not to be jealous of that appetizer. It's hard. Really, really hard."

"Oh Holly, this is wonderful. You had them make me something with cheese puffs! I knew you could make a bunch of dishes with cheese puffs. I tried to tell Nick once. He didn't believe me but I knew it and you did it. You had them make this just for me." She is so unabashedly childlike in her enthusiasm I can't help but smile.

"That was the plan."

"What's next?"

"No idea. I just gave them a list of your favorite foods and they came up with the rest. They only do this one night every quarter. It's sort of their version of Iron Chef. You have to agree to give up a certain amount of control but if you're unsatisfied I hear that they will comp your meal at the main restaurant one evening."

"Wow." She continues to eat. "This is yummy. I can't wait to see what's next. How is yours?"

I realize in my watching her, I've forgotten to eat. "I don't know. I haven't tried it yet."

"Well try it because I'm not sure I'm going to share mine."

"You don't share food Gail." I cut off a piece of zucchini and taste it. It melts in my mouth.

"I would with you Lunchbox. Especially since my current culinary experience is due to you knowing me so well."

"I'm happy with mine. Yours is safe." She smiles back at me and we both continue to eat in relative silence while Brad brings the rest of the drinks and Gail does the remaining two tequila shots since I'm driving. She looks happy. I think about how rare it is that I get to see her face so open and unguarded like this.

When the main course arrives, Brad delivers mine first. It's a fancy casserole dish with more vegetables in it. Then he puts Gail's down. At first glance it's a hamburger and I see her face fall. Then I notice that the bun is shiny. I know what it is then. I wait for Gail to notice. She looks at Brad, then me, and finally takes a good look at the burger and it hits her.

"Is that..?"

"Yes Ms. Peck that is a donut burger."

"You're shitting me."

"Am not." Brad replies.

"Gravy." She smiles

"I'm sorry. Do you want gravy?"

"What? Oh no. It's just an expression."

"Very good ma'am. Please let me know if you need anything else."

I'm eating my main dish when Gail finally takes a bite out of her burger. She closes her eyes but I can still see that they are rolling back in her head and she's moaning again. Watching Gail eat and enjoy her meal is akin to watching her have sex. I thought Gail would enjoy it but I didn't plan on my reaction to her reaction. I hate it when I overlook something obvious like that. On the up side, this does provide me multiple fantasy scenarios so there is that. On the down side, I'm going to have to take a cold shower tonight.

Brad comes back to the table and points to Gail slightly. "Is her meal okay?"

"Yes. I think she just wants to be alone with the burger. I'm trying not to be jealous."

He laughs. "I'm glad. I think the sous chef had a minor breakdown when he received your list of her favorite foods. If she had really wanted gravy I'm not sure what would have happened in the kitchen. We drew straws tonight to see who got your table. We all had to lay eyes on her. I personally thought she'd be twelve years old." Gail is too busy with the burger to hear our conversation but I can hear her moaning again. Maybe an ice bath will be necessary.

"Sometimes I think that too. And before you ask, I have no idea how she eats the way she does and maintains that figure. It's a scientific mystery."

He laughs again and Gail comes out of her food coma. "This is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth ever." She starts to lick the donut glaze off her fingers. I'm transfixed. I cannot look away. Our eyes lock and I know she knows exactly what she's doing.

"Ever?" Brad asks pursing his lips. I take a drink of water.

"Best _food_ I've ever put in my mouth." Gail retorts not missing a beat. I proceed to choke on my water. Brad, I assume deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, retreats from the table.

"You okay Holly?" She grins at me wickedly.

"Ack, ack." I swallow trying not to cough again. I narrow my eyes at her as much as I can considering they are still watering. "Gail. Not fair."

"You do have the dirtiest mind Lunchbox." She takes another bite of her burger.

"What can I say? You inspire me." I smirk back at her. "So from all the moans coming from that side of the table can I assume that you're still enjoying your meal?"

"Oh yeah."

"It's good to know that there's more than one thing that can make you make that noise."

"Pretty much just you and food if you want the truthful answer." Dammit. I'm speechless and she knows it. She knows she's made me speechless. "Cat got your tongue Doctor?"

"Not yet, but I may let her play with it later tonight." Gail looks gobsmacked. I see the faint blush on her chest and neck. Score one for Team Stewart.

I hear her mutter under her breath, "Stupid cat analogy."

"What was that Gail?"

"I said. Stupid. Cat. Analogy. You're like an elephant aren't you? You never forget anything."

"You know there really is scientific evidence to suggest that elephants do have higher cognitive function and can remember other elephants that they only had minimal contact with decades earlier. They may not live up to 'never forget' but they come pretty close."

"God, you're such a nerd. I love…that you know that." She looks down at her plate.

I smile. "I'm glad that my useless facts amuse you."

She looks up from her plate. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Didn't you just?"

"You know what I mean."

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Am I your girlfriend? I mean we haven't put any labels on anything yet because it's still so new but I want to know." She's twisting her napkin in her hands.

"That depends. If I say yes are you going to freak out and create an emergency situation?"

"No. I promise."

"Do you want to be my girlfriend Gail?"

"Yes." She breathes out.

"Good." I reach out and hold her hands in mine. "Then it's official. Only slightly less serious than 'Plus One Forever'."

"You're so weird." She shakes her head at me as she says it.

"You love it."

"I do. I honestly do." She grips my hands and then begins again. "So girlfriend means exclusive. Right?"

"I had intended it that way. Yes. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Gail." I say in a tone that means I know she's holding something back.

"Your dating profile may have taken a bump or two up the radar after the fight this week at 15."

"Oh it definitely has. I keep getting cops bringing me coffee into the lab. Wanting to chat me up. So thanks for that. If you ever leave me, I'll have a lot more options." I grin cheekily.

She scowls at me. Actually scowls at me. Those blue eyes are burning into mine. My god she's so beautiful and a bit scary. "Oh they have, have they? Who? That idiot Luck from 27 I bet. She can't take a hint." I start to laugh. I can't help it. The thought that anyone could compete with her is so hilarious to me. She, however, does not think it's funny. "What's so funny Holly?"

"Honey" I squeeze her hands. "I don't want anyone but you. There is no one else who compares to you. I'm so into you I can barely breathe when you look at me. The idea that I could even look at someone else is funny to me."

She looks at me seriously and begins to speak, "Holly, I'm so…" when she's interrupted by Brad returning to our table with our desserts.

"Voilà! Your desserts. Dr. Stewart salted caramel ice cream and Ms. Peck Watermelon sherbet."

"Thank you Brad." I manage.

It's then that he seems to notice he's interrupted something. Gail is still staring at me intently. "Please just let me know if you need anything else ladies." With that he walks away.

"Gail, you were saying?"

"Nothing Holly. It's nothing. Thank you for all of this. I do feel really special." Then she begins to eat her sherbet and the moment is gone. She gets lost in the taste of the sherbet and hums in pleasure. "So this is the last course. What next?"

I smile grateful that she seems to be enjoying herself again but I can't help but wonder what it was she was going to say. I decide to ignore it like she seems to be doing. "I love watching you laugh so we're going to a Second City show."

"We're going to watch improv?" She asked uncertainly.

"Have you ever been?"

"No."

"Then give it a chance. Maybe it will be the comedic equivalent of a donut burger." I smile as I steal a taste of her sherbet. "Ummmm. That's wonderful." I say around the bite.

"Thief! Don't make me arrest you." She hits my spoon with hers as I try for another bite. I can't help the, (Is there any other way to categorize them?) naughty, thoughts that run through my head at her pretend threat. They must have shown on my face because she narrows her eyes at me again. "Uggh! Not like that Nerd. I'm serious. Food is a serious business." But I can see the blush on her chest stretch up to that lovely column of alabaster that is her neck. I want to suck on the pulse point there as it beats out a staccato display. The ache that began when I first saw her in that dress intensifies almost painfully.

I clear my throat and try to clear my mind of lascivious thoughts. "I promise to be a good girl Gail. No more food thievery." I also promise not to bend you backwards over this table and fuck you senseless. I add silently. So much for clearing my mind. This going slow is the worst. The slide show in my head has now moved to a full-fledged NC-17 movie. Thank God there's no sound yet.

"Holly!" Gail says forcefully and breaks into my thoughts.

"Yeah? What?"

"Holly, I've been saying your name for a while now. Where did you go?" She looks at me quizzically.

I shrug "Nowhere. Just thinking we should probably leave to make the show." I try to look innocent.

I can tell she doesn't believe me but she simply says, "Okay. Let's go then. Do we need to get Brad over here for the check?"

"No. It's all already taken care of. I paid beforehand."

She stands then and holds her hand out to me. I take it and stand. She says, "This has already been the best date I've ever been on Holly. Thank you."

"You're welcome. You deserve the best Honey. Let's go so I can watch you laugh. It's my second favorite thing."

As we're walking to the door she says, "What's the first?"

"I'm not answering that."

**XXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

Second City was fun, like the most fun I've had with my clothes on, not eating, or drinking tequila, fun. I should have known. Holly, again, knows me better than I know myself. I made her put in some medical terms and I put in some police ones when they asked us before the show for nouns, celebrities, etc. to incorporate into the performance. They only used a few but they were hilarious.

The ride home has been quiet but not uncomfortably so. I'm holding Holly's hand on my thigh. I'm so unbelievably content. There's this remarkable woman who has taken me on, what is without a doubt, the best date of my life sitting next to me and I'm as thankful as I ever remember being. It's new for me. Gratitude. As she pulls onto my street, I raise her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles slipping my tongue between the apex of her ring and middle fingers. I'm rewarded by her sharp intake of breath.

"Gail"

"Holly, this has been the most magical night. I can't put into words what it's meant to me. I'd like to show you." I can't help that my voice changes with the last statement, gets deeper; I'm pretty sure it's involuntary. But I get the result I was hoping for. Holly shudders.

She's trying to park the car and misaligns with the curb, something she's never done before, even when, as I recall, I had my hand briefly between her legs one night after we were dating and I was too impatient to wait to get to my bedroom. I look at her and raise my eyebrow in question. She rectifies the parking situation. Then turns off the car.

"Honey, as much as I want you right now, and believe me when I say that I do. I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize our new beginning. I'm afraid we moved too fast last time and I couldn't stand losing you again. We couldn't recover from it."

I reach out for her other hand forcing her to turn and face me as I say, "Baby, I'm not going anywhere. I swear. I've done life without you and I don't want to go back to it. Being afraid of losing you is nothing compared to actually doing it. How fast or how slow we go physically has no impact on how I feel about you because I'm totally head over heels in love with you Holly Stewart. Love is such a weird word though, ya know 'cause I say I love tequila, and cheese puffs, but that's not a strong enough word for how I feel about you. You're like my air Holly, or water, if I was a fish, because when you're not around I can't breathe." She just stares at me. "Baby, are you ok?"

She launches herself over the middle console and presses her lips to mine in a crushing kiss. It's desperate and searching and not the least bit gentle. I taste tears and I'm not sure if they're hers or mine. I pull my head back to look at her. "Say it again." She says as the cups my face.

"I'm in love with you Holly Stewart."

She kisses me sweetly. "Again"

"So in love with you."

She kisses me again then stops, pulling back so that I can look into her eyes. "Gail Peck you are the most beautiful, irascible, infuriating, stubborn, goofy, intelligent creature, and I love you with every fiber of my being." Then I start to cry in earnest now. "Hey, hey, maybe not all that infuriating."

"You know I am."

"Okay. Maybe"

"I'm not crying because of that. I'm crying because you accept me. You know exactly who I am and you love _me_. I'm not sure if anyone has ever just loved _me_ before."

"Then they're stupid. And what have we established Peck? What am I not?"

"Stupid." I smile at her and she smiles back.

"Exactly right. Now I think someone promised to show me how she felt about me. And after an evening of you moaning over cheese puffs and donut burgers and then laughing so hard with your face lit up, I have to tell you my self-restraint has been put to the test tonight. You were luminescent. I'm so glad you love me because I'm so in love with you I don't know what to do with myself. I was going to go home and take a cold shower but I'm not sure even that would help."

"Oh really?" I say and I feel my eyebrow wing up of its own accord. "Well now, that will never do. What do you think would help you with this condition doctor? Can you describe your symptoms?" I lean over to kiss her neck starting mid-way between her shoulder and ear working my way up toward her ear.

"Generalized fever, sometimes loss of motor function, shortness of breath, increased heart rate. Fuck!" As I nip behind her ear playfully. "Possible sudden onset of Tourette's Syndrome." We both giggle like little girls.

"Let's get out of here and into my bed." I say and see her eyes darken with want even in the dimly lit car.

"You have roommates."

"They're all on late patrol tonight. No worries. Besides do you really want to drive in your condition?"

"Fair point."

We make our way to the front door and I'm trying to get my key in the lock. Holly is not helping the situation because she's standing behind me pressing her breasts into my back, rubbing her hands over my hips, up my sides, over my breasts, down my stomach and back up again. Running this pattern over and over again. "Holly, if you don't stop we're going to have sex right here."

She leans in and whispers in my ear, "Gail, right now I'd have sex with you almost anywhere."

I finally get the keys to work. Thank God! I throw the door open, pull Holly inside and close the door with my foot. I throw her against the wall in the entryway and have a moment of panic that her head may have hit the wall. "Baby are you ok?"

"Shut up. No talking. More kissing."

I have no problem with those directions. I descend on her mouth. From between us, I pull her shirt from her pants and can't get the buttons undone fast enough so I just take the ends and pull. I hear buttons landing on the floor. I have just enough time to process that she's wearing a black lace bra, one of my favorites in the Holly bra collection, when she spins me around and presses me up against the wall. She's pushing up my skirt and I wrap my right leg around her waist when I hear her, the most annoying voice in the universe.

"Guys!" I look up and see Chloe on the couch straddling Dov with her hands over his eyes. I move my leg down and stare at her. Holly moves away from me slightly. "Hey. Listen I'm not sure how long I can keep him like this. To be fair, lesbian porn walked into his living room and it's not his fault."

"She didn't let me see anything" Dov calls out.

"That's the only reason I'm going to let you live." I reply. "What are you doing here? I thought you were working tonight?"

"We swapped. Hey, not to be pushy or anything but Dr. Sixpack can you put those away so I can let Dov up off the couch?" Chloe tips her head toward Holly's lace clad breasts.

"I think Gail broke my shirt."

I hear Dov whimper. "Epstein!" I yell.

"Have mercy, Gail! A man can only stand so much." Dov retorts.

"C'mon honey we should go in your room." Holly leads me into my room and closes the door. She leans up against it and begins to laugh uncontrollably.

**A/N - Folks this is about as comfortable as I'm going with a T rating. Do you think this story needs a sex scene? If so, do you think another fic or change the ratting of this one to M? I'm not sure exactly what the best way to do this is. As always your thoughts and feelings are welcome. Thanks so much for the support.**


	5. Chapter 5 Rated M

**Hey Folks,**

**This chapter is rated M. I did not change the entire fic's rating. So if you don't want to read some smutty lady-lovin' then this chapter is not for you. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. However, if you were one of the reviews or messages that I received asking for it, then I hope I've delivered. Let me know okay? It's been a minute since I wrote smut. :D**

**As always, thanks so much for your favorites and reviews. To those of you who asked what Holly said to Duncan, I promise you'll find out.**

**Mistakes are all mine. Rookie Blue is not.**

**Gail**

I have my palm on my forehead rubbing away my body's natural reaction to Chloe's voice – headache, and I can admit it, I'm blushing, embarrassed to be caught with Holly like a couple of horny teenagers. Holly is still laughing. "Holly, I'm so sorry. I didn't think they would be here."

"It's okay. Though I admit it's been a while since I've been like that. I'm usually a bit more…aware of my surroundings." She's still leaning against my bedroom door smiling at me with her little half smile, her hands behind her, the ruined shirt falling completely open. I have an almost uninhibited view of her perfect abs and her breasts straining against the black lace of her bra.

"Yeah." I reply staring at the floor, shuffling from foot to foot, uncomfortable with the moment.

"God, you have the most adorable streak of prude."

"What?"

"You're embarrassed." She points to me.

"You're not?" I ask.

She thinks a moment. "Not really. We're consenting adults. Besides, I'm not ashamed of anyone knowing that I'm about to sleep with the most gorgeous woman I know." She pushes off the door and locks eyes with me. "Gail? If you want me to stop all you have to do is say the word." She reaches for me then.

"What if they hear us?" I say as she wraps her arms around my waist.

"What if they do? What's the worst that can happen?" I just look at her. She answers for me, "They'll know we're having sex and I'm pretty sure they know that anyway."

"But Holly, I'm not…_quiet_ when it's you."

She laughs, a full-throated laugh, throwing her head back. "Honey, thank you for the compliment, I think." She rests her head against mine. "Do you want people outside this room to keep me from making love to you?"

"No." I have an idea. "Hang on." I step away and look for my duty bag. I search it and find what I'm looking for, two sets of shooting earmuffs. I walk out of the room to the sound of Holly laughing like a hyena.

I walk back in a few minutes later to Holly, laying on my bed, resting on her elbows, shirt still open, completely and utterly at ease. As I close the door she says, "Can I assume that you threatened poor officers Price and Epstein?"

"There were no threats" I say as I crawl on top of her straddling her lap with my dress bunching up around my hips. "I asked them nicely, like you make me do."

"I don't make you do anything Gail Peck. No one makes you do anything you don't want to do." She reaches up and runs her hands over my naked thighs pushing my dress up as she does.

"You do"

"Are you saying you don't want this?" She trails her right index finger slowly along the inside of my thigh up past the hem of my dress ever so slowly.

"I want this more than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

"Good" She presses her hand under my dress and cups my sex gently over my underwear. I'm embarrassingly wet.

"Oh Fuck me" I say, not really to her, but as a curse.

She chuckles lowly, "It's like you can read my mind." I stare into her eyes. "You're wet Gail. So, so wet."

"I know." I also know, she needs me to talk. I'm not sure if I'm capable of it at the moment, but I'm going to try. She begins to move her hand against me slowly, so slowly and gently. I shudder out, "It started when I got dressed for you. I imagined you taking my clothes off of me. Then you came to the door," I bring my mouth down to her ear and whisper "so beautiful. You're so beautiful. Then you kissed me and I've been in a state of arousal ever since." I ghost my lips along her ear. "You've made me feel so special and so loved all night. My nerd." I bring my lips back to hers for a kiss. I look into her eyes as I say seriously, "I love you Holly Stewart. Make love to me."

**Holly**

Something snaps inside of me hearing Gail's words. I feel like my heart is going to burst. I pull her down in a fierce kiss. I can't get her close enough. I reach behind her and begin to unzip her dress. Still kissing her for all I'm worth, I cup my hands on Gail's ass and stand up, she wraps her arms and legs around me in instinct, I think. I hold her up easily then. I fight the urge to push her up against the wall of her room and fuck her right then. I pull my mouth away from hers. "Gail, honey, I need you to stand up so we can get this amazing dress off of you without me ripping it apart" I pant.

"Fuck the dress." She pulls my mouth toward hers again and tightens her hold on me with her legs. God, what this woman does to me.

"Baby, please. I want to see you in this dress again at some point." I sigh.

"Oh alright." She unwraps her legs, then her arms. I miss their warmth almost immediately. She stands in front of me then and shimmies out of her dress slowly. Right arm under the strap, left arm, then she lets it slowly fall down her body and I realize she's wearing a shimmering pearl colored bustier with matching panties underneath that dress. I exhale and stare, completely and utterly mesmerized. With her fair complexion, it's hard to tell where the garments end and Gail starts. My hands long to touch her all over. I realize belatedly that I'm sitting on the bed again. I think my knees got weak. "You ok over there Holly?" She arches that perfect eyebrow at me.

"I'm perfect." I grin back at her with what I know has to be the most foolish face. "I'm not as perfect as you are but I'll manage. Everything is perfect, perfect eyebrows, perfect eyes, perfect breasts…mffh" She hops on top of me, straddling my lap and kisses me.

Still kissing me, she says, "What were you saying out in the foyer?"

"Gail, that was a lifetime ago. I'm impressed I know my own name right now." I kiss her back my entire body tingling with anticipation. The fever of arousal has returned and I can feel my heart pounding against my rib cage. I'm almost trembling with it. I don't think I've ever been this turned on in my life.

"You said, No talking more kissing." She says against my lips.

"So I can't tell you how utterly, hopelessly I'm in love with you in this moment?" I pull back gently and look into her eyes.

"You can always tell me that Lunchbox." She looks into my eyes in only the way that Gail can. There's something about her eyes. I can see all her emotions there. It amazes me when other people can't. She's such an open book to me. I see her loving me in those eyes.

"I am, you know, in love with you. I can't remember when I wasn't in love with you. You're so amazing Gail." I kiss her neck, nipping and sucking up her sternocleidomastoid muscle, tracing it from its origins on her clavicle and manubrium up to its insertion point behind her ear.

"Only to you baby" she moans and then says "and I'm okay with that. Ohhh, I love it when you do that."

"Do what?" I raise my head.

"That weird anatomy thing. You're tracing my whatzit."

"Your sternocleidomastoid. You could just say SCM. Most people do." I put my hand on her sternal notch at the base of her neck and slide it over until I sense the muscle under my fingertips. "Feel right here, this is where it attaches at the sternum." I slide my hand over the muscle to her clavicle. "This is another 'head' here and it attaches to your clavicle or collarbone." I run my fingertips up her neck to just below her ear. "Finally, this is the insertion of the muscle, the mastoid process. The sterno, cleido, mastoid muscle." I touch each point for emphasis.

"What does it say about me that this turns me on?"

"That we were made for each other?"

"God, you are so sexy when you're speaking nerd. I swear one day I'm going to make you put on your lab coat and tell me all about my pelvic muscles while we're otherwise naked."

"I'll file that particular fantasy away for you."

"You do that." She kisses me then and I remember that I have a pretty good fantasy going right here.

I pull back and then begin my exploration of the other side of her neck. "Honey, when did you get this?" I tug lightly at the lingerie.

"Huh?" She says with her eyes closed and her head back to give me full access to her neck.

"The lingerie. When did you get it?" I resume kissing her neck, nipping and sucking my way up toward her ear.

"Last week. Ohhh. Bought it for you. Ummm. Thought you'd like it."

That did it. "Hold on" I remember to say, as I stand back up. She wraps around me again. I kiss her possessively. Pulling her more to me by her ass, I walk the two steps to the wall of her room and press her against the wall. I can easily hold her weight this way. I push the underwear out of the way and slide two fingers inside her. I hear her sharp intake of breath. I can't stop. She moans my name, loudly. Her hips roll forward. I'm pushing into her with a rhythm that I know will make her come quickly. I rub my thumb across her clit and I feel her tremble. I hear her say something but I'm not sure what. "What Baby?"

"More." I push into her forcefully then and she starts making incoherent sounds but I know that they mean 'yes' and 'more' and I'm lost in her. I curl my fingers inside her and I feel her walls clamp down on them before I hear her. She begins to shake and cry out. "Ohhh, baby, I'm coming! Don't stop! Keep doing it exactly like that."

"I've got you. I won't stop. I promise." I say into her neck and bite down. She moans in response and her first orgasm courses through her body.

She stills for a moment and then the next wave begins. "Oh Fuck…Fuck me…Oh God…Oh Holly!" I continue with the same rhythm. I feel surrounded by her, completely enveloped with her wrapped around me in all possible ways. The next spasm seems larger and her legs tighten around me. As her trembling subsides I slow my rhythm. "Baby, that feels so good. You feel so good inside me." I continue moving my fingers inside her but a bit more gently now that I know she will be more sensitive.

"Are you going to come for me again?" I purr in her ear. "I want you to come for me again. This is my favorite thing, watching you come for me." Her response is another moan. With one final spasm she goes limp in my arms. "Gail, honey, hold on to me." She does and I slowly withdraw my fingers and manage to navigate us back to the bed.

I place her on the bed gently and remove her underwear. I discard my shirt and take off my pants. I cover her body with mine sliding between her legs. Holding myself up by my arms, I nibble her breasts through the fabric. "Mmmm, this outfit is incredible but I'm not sure I can get you out of it the rest of the way without your help."

She opens her eyes and looks at me, "As soon as I regain the feeling in my extremities I'll get right on that." She folds her arms over her face, covering her eyes. "Jesus, what brought that on? Not that I'm complaining."

"You bought lingerie for me" I respond. She moves her arms to look down at me as I grin at her with my chin resting on her chest.

"If I didn't think it would kill us, I'd go order the entire Victoria's Secret catalog right now."

I laugh. "Honey, in all my years in medical school, my years as a forensic pathologist, I've never ever heard of anyone dying of an orgasm. I think it's safe to order. I'll donate my credit card if I get final approval." I wiggle my eyebrows.

"And you call me insane."

"I think the desire to see my girlfriend in various and sundry lingerie is reasonable, even healthy. It in no way borders on insanity. This is my medical opinion."

"I don't think you're qualified to make that diagnosis." She sits up, raising me up with her. She reaches behind her back and her remaining clothes seem to magically fall off. I can only stare. She is so breathtakingly beautiful. Her breasts, the planes of her stomach. I want to worship her body for hours but I can't seem to move at the moment.

**Gail**

Holly has a look on her face reminiscent of the first time I kissed her. Not the self-satisfied smirk of the first time she kissed me in that cloak room, but the stunned and dazed expression from the interrogation room. I wonder absently if anyone has ever looked at me the way Holly does. I've been wanted, I know that, but this is something more. She licks her lips and her eyes roam over my body. Her stare is so intense, I swear, it feels like she's touching me with her eyes. My body responds as if she's caressing me.

"Baby, you ok?"

She raises her gaze to my eyes and says, "That's quite the party trick."

"I thought you'd like that."

"Oh I do. I absolutely do."

"You still have on too many clothes." I reach behind her and unhook her bra. I slide it off her. "That's better." I run my thumbs across her nipples gently. She inhales and closes her eyes. "Look at me. Look at me." I repeat. She does. She looks into my eyes. God, I love her eyes. It's like they're liquid chocolate. I lean down and take her nipple in my mouth. When I run the flat of my tongue over it she moans.

"Oh God"

I smile then and release her nipple, "still answer to Gail though."

"Oh God, you're such an ass. How's that?"

I pinch her other nipple gently. "What?" I ask. She whimpers in response. Then I lean over to the nipple that I pinched and run my tongue over it, flicking it gently. She reaches behind my head and pulls me to her breast. I take this as my cue to begin sucking on her nipple. She responds immediately. I shift so that I can move her under me. I hold myself over her and raise my head to look into her eyes. "What do you want Baby?"

"You. Just You. Always you." She responds as she threads her fingers through my hair and pulls me down into a searing kiss that leaves me wondering which way is up. I slide my thigh between her legs and press against her center. She arches into me. I know that I have to taste her…soon. Honestly, if someone had told me that I'd enjoy this part of lesbian sex so much a few years ago, I would have called them crazy but that was before I met Holly Stewart. I work my mouth down her body, neck, collar bones, and breasts. I spend probably more time than is actually needed on her breasts but hey, a girl has to be thorough. I work down her stomach while she's writhing beneath me. She has on lace boy shorts that match the bra. I take the waist band in my teeth and pull them down a bit as I run my tongue along the indentation of her hip.

"I love you." I say as I begin to take off her underwear. "I...I just wanted to say it again. I love you, ridiculously." I look her in the eye.

She reaches up and puts her hand under my chin. "I know. I can see it. I see you. I love you too." I smile at her then and finish taking off her underwear. I lean down and kiss her belly. I am about to start kissing her inner thigh when she speaks again. "Honey, I don't think I can take much more. Please."

I look at her skeptically for form, and say, "Oh alright" but it's exactly what I want to do. I press my mouth on her core and I'm enveloped by her slick heat. I run my tongue up her in one long stroke and get the first taste of her. I can't hold back my own moan. I slip my fingers into her and begin to lick her clit. Holly lets loose a string of obscenities that I wasn't aware she knew. I'm relentless. I want to see her come undone under me. She throws her head back and begins to shake.

"Ooohhh my God!" She raises her head to look at me and I watch her as she finally succumbs to her orgasm. It's the most erotic thing I've ever seen. So intimate, I feel privileged to see it. Slowly, very slowly I remove my fingers. I kiss her center one final time, her inner thighs, and work my way back up her body. I rest on my left side next to her, my head propped up on my hand, and look into her eyes.

"Hey"

"I forgot how good you were at that." She reaches up to hold my face. "It's like I discovered you before anyone else got the chance. Are you sure you've never done it to anyone but me?" She tilts her head at me the way she does.

"It's pussy, not brain surgery. It can't be that hard to know what to do."

"Okay. Let me ask you this. Do you enjoy it when I do that to you?"

"Stop asking stupid questions."

She grins at me. "Okay. Did you enjoy it before me?" She moves her finger to my chest and begins running what feels like figure eights between my breasts.

"No."

"See."

"Fine."

She laughs. "I have so much fun with you. I love being with you." She draws me down into a kiss. "Now, I think it's time for me to do what I've wanted to do since you opened that door tonight."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to make love to you until you beg me to stop. I'm going to kiss and taste you all over and I'm going to keep on doing it until you beg me to stop. I want to ruin you for other people. You're going to scream my name while you come and I'm going to make you come over and over again until you beg me to stop."

"I don't beg."

"Then this should get interesting." She says as she flips me on my back and kisses me. She works her way down my body as I watch her. Everywhere her mouth touches me feels like it's on fire. I look down at her as she settles herself between my legs. We lock eyes and she watches me watch her as she takes me into her mouth. The image of the woman I love possessing me this way is almost enough to send me into orbit. As it is, I don't last very long until everything goes supernova and she was right, I am screaming her name.

What feels like hours later and maybe it is, I've lost all sense of time. We've taken turns making love to each other separately and simultaneously, to the point that, I can no longer feel my lips. I'm so exhausted I'm having trouble distinguishing reality from dreams. I roll onto my back and Holly situates herself next to me after having given me what is most likely the longest most intense orgasm of my life. I ask "Are you sure no one has ever died from an orgasm? Because at the end there, I seriously thought my life was in danger."

"Are you surrendering Peck?" She asks me but does not move her head which is laying on my chest.

"I'm just saying maybe we need to rest up for round two." I run my fingers through her hair lazily. "What do you say?" I stop moving my hand and tilt my head so I can see her face. Her eyes are closed. "Holly?"

"Mmmm?" She replies. How can she be so cute and so sexy at the same time?

"Nevermind. I love you." I say as I close my eyes and almost immediately fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey folks,**

**I'm not sure what's been wrong but I've been trying to get this chapter to post for a while now. Hopefully everything is resolved now.**

**T****hanks as always for the follows, favorites and reviews. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it. I was going to split this up into two chapters but I already had it written so it's together. ****Shameless plug - reviews make the next chapter come faster. :D**

A little after lunch on Saturday, Traci Nash walked into Casa Peckstein-Diaz escorting Chris Diaz himself into the apartment. They had been on stakeout for twelve hours and then things went sideways. Chris ended up in a foot chase with one of the suspects. He'd dislocated his shoulder in the struggle and the ER doctor wouldn't release him until Traci said she'd personally see that he got home okay.

They walk in to what sounded like Death Domain III on at full volume and to Dov and Chloe playing on the couch. Traci tries to speak over the noise as she guides Chris, who's high on painkillers with his arm in a sling, to the chair. She finally gives up and steps in front of the TV. "What the hell?!" She screams. Dov doesn't respond he just pauses the game. Immediately the sounds of sex, very loud, very boisterous sex fill the apartment. Dov unpauses the game. Traci steps over to Chloe.

"It's a 'Golly' reunion." Chloe smiles at Traci. "I want to call them 'Golly' because 'Stewpeck' sounds weird and 'Peckwart' is worse ya know?"

"How long has this been going on?" Traci asks.

"They got home about midnight last night, so since then. Gail came out with earmuffs for us but we got tired of wearing them. Chris, you can have mine if you want to go to sleep." Chloe offers.

"It can't go on much longer can it?" Chris asks.

"Dude, I thought that like three hours ago. Chloe and I have a bet. She says they'll stay at it until our shift today at three. I said no way. I mean they have to like rest or something right?" Dov looks at Traci for her input.

"What are you looking at me for? Wait, they've been doing this for the last thirteen hours?" Traci asks.

"Off and on I figure. There was a period of about two hours this morning when I didn't have the earmuffs on and before we turned up the game that I think they must have been sleeping or something." Chloe responds then adds, "So Dov and I have a bet of twenty bucks. We're trying to predict the hour but not go over. Y'all want in?"

"If Dr. Stewart is half as thorough in her personal life as she is with evidence in the lab, three may not be long enough. Can I take four?" Traci begins to mill around in her purse for her money.

"I say at least five." Chris looks at them all as he puts his money down on the coffee table. "What? I'm most qualified to make this call. Gail loves sex."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At 2:20 there's a knock at the door. Traci, Chloe and Chris look at Dov since he's the only one that lives there that is not injured or otherwise occupied at the moment. They've abandoned Death Domain and are playing cards with the music a little loud. Dov gets up and answers the door. It's a food delivery guy who looks to be all of nineteen years old.

"Hey, I've got veggie Lo Mein, chicken Lo Mein, shrimp fried rice, Kung Pao tofu, and a double order of veggie eggrolls for a Gail. She promised me a twenty dollar tip if we'd deliver it. We normally don't deliver at lunch. We start delivery at four but she said it was an emergency and that there were lives on the line."

Dov pressed his lips together in a tight line. "Of course she did." He turns to Gail's bedroom door. "Gail! Your food is here!"

"Mmmff! What?!" Which was followed by giggling.

"Your food is here! The guy wants a tip! A big ass tip" Dov replies.

"Can you just…"

"No! Come get your food and pay the man!"

A minute later Gail walks out of her bedroom in what looks to be a loosely buttoned cardigan sweater and nothing else. Dov is almost sure the delivery guy has swallowed his tongue. Gail smiles at him like he's a slow child. Dov is also pretty sure he's forgotten the tip.

"Hey, so…how much is it?" She keeps smiling. It's kinda creepy truth be told. Usually, Gail only smiles when something twisted is happening.

"Uh, $48.50?" The stunned delivery guy manages.

"Are you sure?" She keeps smiling and shakes her head at him a bit. "That sounded like a question."

Holly appears at Gail's bedroom door in the shirt she was wearing last night, tied into a knot under her breasts and a pair of black cotton boy shorts so she looks a bit like an NFL cheerleader. Her jeweled belly button ring twinkles in the light coming in through the windows. She has the hair of a woman who has spent the last few hours having sex. Dov is positive that the guy has forgotten the tip now. Dov is sincerely hoping he's not staring and getting into trouble with Chloe. "Honey, make sure they sent duck sauce please."

Gail turns to Holly, "Of course. I won't forget." Holly walks back into the bedroom and shuts the door. Gail turns back to the delivery guy, "There's duck sauce right?"

"Uhh. Yeah." His expression is so stunned, he looks like he's been hit in the head with a brick. Gail hands him the money, takes the flat box of takeout food containers and heads over to the counter. The delivery guy looks at Dov and just says, "Duuuddee"

Dov holds up his hands, "Nope. You're not dragging me into this. I suggest you leave now before she hears you."

"But Dude they are so hot!"

"What did you say?" Gail walks back over from the counter.

"Gail, he's a kid. Let's just let him walk out of here under his own power and forget the whole thing." Dov whips his head around to the kid and says, "Run!" The kid must have seen something on either Gail's face or his because he took off.

Gail turns from the door back to the food on the counter and finally sees Traci, Chris and Chloe. They are holding up scorecards like judges. Traci's reads 10, Chloe is holding up two, presumably one of which is Dov's, both reading 10, and Chris is sitting there with one that says 9.25.

"You are all assholes. I mean, really, et tu Traci? And what the fuck Chris? A 9.25?"

"I dunno. I don't really think you're putting your all into it." He smiles like the Boy Scout that he is.

"You just wait. They're going to file a noise complaint on us. 9.25 my ass!" She picks up the food, grabs some drinks out of the fridge and walks into her bedroom in a huff.

"You know Chris, I never understood why you and Gail dated before. I get it now. You have a twisted side. You did that just to win the bet." Traci looks at him with new respect.

"What? No. Who would do that?" Then he starts to laugh. "Yeah, I totally did." He pauses, "But now that they have food, I want to extend the time on my bet."

"Well technically, you've tampered with the unbiased nature of the sociological experiment by taunting Gail." Dov replies. "So I think we should all get to revise our times."

It was late Sunday before anyone saw Gail or Holly again. Traci won because Holly Stewart was nothing if she wasn't thorough.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Holly**

It's noon on Monday and I'm just now getting to the lab. I've spent the morning in court which went well, surprisingly. I made myself leave Gail's apartment yesterday. I had to review my notes so that I would be able to testify against a very, very bad man. I knew if I was at Gail's, or if she came to my place, that I would not do what I had to do, in order to get ready for court. So I broke us out of our bubble. I was worried that given time and a little distance she might freak out again but I got a text around nine last night that helped alleviate some of those concerns.

**Officer Awesome: I miss you and I think you broke me.**

**Define "broke"**

**Officer Awesome: Like you haven't been gone any time at all and I miss you. **

**So that's bad?**

**Officer Awesome: Yes! I mean it's not like I do that for a living. How am I going to survive a work week if I miss you after a few hours?**

…

**Officer Awesome: This is the part where I need your input.**

**Sorry. Got distracted thinking of exactly how you could make your living like that. ;D I think you should go Pro. ; P I'll need to check my bank account though because I'm the jealous type.**

**Officer Awesome: :\**

**I miss you too. Terribly. **

**Officer Awesome: Good. Then we're in this together. :D Get back to work. I love you.**

**I love you too.**

I barely slept last night, I missed her with a physical ache. That can't be right can it? It's never been like this with anyone in my life before. My body feels like I've run a sex marathon. In the shower this morning I found all sorts of tender and sensitive places. Oh, but my God, was it worth it. Gail is the most attentive, intuitive lover I've ever had. You wouldn't think she would be, but she notices things other people don't. She has this practiced veneer of disdain and boredom that she wears, mostly around other people, but sometimes with me. But she sees and catalogs everything. She takes in detail almost like someone with an eidetic memory. She used everything she knew about me and then some this weekend. Who knew the backs of your knees were erogenous zones? I'm so lost in the memory, I almost don't see Chris Diaz standing at the door of my lab.

"Officer Diaz"

"Dr. Stewart"

"What can I do for you?"

He gestured with his injured arm that was in a small sling. "Because of this I've been relegated to courier. I brought you some evidence in an assault. The detectives want you to see if you can identify whether this" He held out a few small evidence bags with his good hand. "belongs to the victim that we have or if it belongs to the Unsub." I looked at one of the bags. It contained a set of brass knuckles.

"They can't tell if the victim was beaten with brass knuckles?"

"He's pretty beat up from what I gathered. Multiple weapons, possible multiple assailants they think."

"Ouch. Okay. Follow me, I just need to drop my bag off in my office first." We walked down the corridor a little way and I decided to have a little fun. "So who won?"

"I'm sorry?"

"The bet. Who won the bet?"

The blush came from his toes. "Uhh, uhh, Traci. I'm sorry Dr. Stewart."

"Holly. You heard me have sex most of the weekend. You have to call me Holly."

"Chris."

"Okay Chris. There, that's better isn't it?"

"Does Gail know? About the bet?"

"Gail told me. Don't worry. I think she's waiting until you recover fully to 'exact her revenge'. Something about playing fair."

"Oh God."

"Yeah. I think she's more pissed about the 9.25 still, but I think I owe you a night of drinking at the Penny for that." I winked at him and turned to unlock my office.

"Uh. I'm not sure how to respond to that."

"Probably best if you just let me buy you alcohol…Wow." My office was filled with red roses. There had to be six dozen in my small office.

"Huh. I guess Gail enjoyed the weekend." He said.

"I guess. This is…unexpected. Sweet, but unexpected."

"What's wrong Holly?"

"What? Oh nothing. It is really, really sweet isn't it?"

He walks over to the vase on my desk as I'm putting my bag in a filing cabinet and retrieving my lab coat off the coat hanger by the door. "There's a card." He held it up to me.

I take it from him and open it.

_Their beauty pales in comparison to yours. You are truly one of a kind. There may be many beauties in the world but you're the only one for me. I miss you. I love you._

_- Melissa_

I drop the card out of my hand and inhale sharply.

"Holly what is it?" He rushes over to my side and makes me sit in my desk chair.

"We have to get them out of here. I need them out of my office now." I can feel them closing in on me and I feel trapped.

"What is it?"

"They're from Melissa."

"Shit."

"Yeah. Chris, you can't tell Gail. I have to tell her. I don't know what to do. I mean as long as Melissa wasn't in my office she didn't do anything wrong did she? What should I do?"

"You have to tell Gail."

"I will, but not until we deal with this okay? I can't think with them pressing in on me. You think we could donate them to the hospital? "

"Fine but I'm going to file another report on this. I think you should think about getting a restraining order." He picks up my office phone and makes a call to the security station downstairs. While we're waiting on the security guard he says, "Are you okay?"

"Mostly I just feel stupid and I'm not really thrilled about the possibility that she might have been in my office. I know it was probably a delivery person but still."

I'm saved from his reply by the arrival of Bill the security guard. He and Chris are speaking and I catch some of it but I'm also running through the best ways to handle this in my head. It can't be against the law to send someone flowers. She's never even threatened to hit me. So far she's only tried to assault Gail which is much worse as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I need to call her and tell her to stop and that it's over. No. Maybe in person? This is so infuriating. I actually chased her the first time she left me. Stupid.

I'm so engrossed in my internal dialogue that I don't notice Gail until she's standing inside the door of my office. Chris and Bill look over at her. We're beginning to resemble anchovies in a can the space is so tight.

"Holly? What's going on?" She looks at Chris though.

Chris gestures to Bill. "C'mon grab a couple of vases. We can go downstairs to the security office and discuss this further." Coward. They walk out but not before Chris shoots me a pointed look.

"Holly, I'm waiting." She has one hand resting on her gun and the other on her utility belt.

"Take your hand off your gun."

"What?"

"I said, take your hand off your gun."

"Are you afraid I'm going to shoot you?"

"No."

"What the hell? Where did all these flowers come from?" She asks. I just look at her gun hand which she finally moves off her gun.

"I thought they were from you. Evidently, so did Bill, which is why he let the floral delivery person into my office." I pick the card up from my desk and hand it to her. Her face goes murderous.

"Holly, how in the actual fuck did you ever date her? That is the lamest card I've ever read, and I read some of the ones Dov sent Sue. You don't like cut flowers. Why the hell would you think I sent them?"

I just smile at her. "How do you know that?"

"What, that it's the lamest card ever? Because duh."

"You know what I mean Peck." I glare at her and she finally relents.

"You have rose bushes in your yard outside your townhouse, but you never have cut roses inside. You garden just like my mom, but we always had cut roses inside growing up. When we go out to dinner and the centerpieces have cut flowers in them, you sort of stare at them and touch the petals and leaves then you get this look on your face, like you're a little sad."

I say as I stand, "You're right. I don't like cut flowers. They remind me of death. Kinda crazy right?" I put my hands on her torso above her utility belt.

"Baby, with your job, that sounds almost normal." She kisses me then, a sweet, tender kiss that makes butterflies flutter in my stomach. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm pretty stoked about the fact that the woman I love knows me well enough not to bombard me with cut roses. But I must like you a lot, because I was trying to get okay with it. That's probably because you're a fantastic kisser, among other things." I kiss her for a moment but she pulls away.

"You can't distract me with your wiles woman. You know exactly what I mean. Are you okay?"

"I feel like a stupid fool but yes I'm okay."

"I thought we established that this was the one thing that you weren't. Stupid I mean."

"I used to think so." I look down.

"No." She takes my chin in her hand. "She doesn't get to do this to you. You are brilliant Holly Stewart, and caring, and warm, and trusting. She doesn't get to make you regret that."

"Is it any wonder that I'm besotted with you?"

"Besotted?" She arches that perfect eyebrow at me. Oh what that eyebrow does to me.

"What? It's a word. A perfectly acceptable word."

"If you're reading one of those bodice-rippers you like to call fiction."

"Gail, I will not have this conversation with someone who read Twilight."

"I told you that was Dov's or Chris' and I was bored out of my mind one night when I couldn't sleep. I would have read one of your science journals at that point."

"Dov's or Chris'? That's the story you're sticking with?" I arch my eyebrow back at her.

"Boys are strange, Holly. Very strange. You never know what kind of reading material they are going to have."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Now let's get back to the fact that you're 'besotted' with me. You know I like to talk about how awesome I am."

"I do. Speaking of which, to what do I owe this impromptu visit? I thought you'd be on desk duty at the station today with your rookie."

"Officially, we still are, but since Chris is out and we have some folks down with the flu, Oliver had us take a micro shift this morning while it was supposed to be slow. We were called to a domestic about two hours ago."

"Did everything go okay?"

"Not really. I'm here to ask you why Gerald simultaneously volunteered to go in first while almost pissing his pants. What did you say to him the other day?"

"What are you talking about?" I try to look innocent and take a step back from her.

"That's your 'I'm lying' face!" She points at me and then grabs me around the waist.

"I do not have an 'I'm lying' face."

She takes out her phone, points it at me, and takes a picture. She holds her phone toward me to show me her screen. "This is it. Do you want me to text it to you?"

I narrow my eyes at her. "You are hateful."

"That's my middle name Abigail 'Hateful' Peck. Spill it. I saw his face after you spoke in his ear after the fight. He was scared, which to be fair, isn't hard, but I have to know what I'm dealing with." She puts her phone back in her pocket.

I sigh. "I told him that if he ever left you in the position that he left officer McNally, if he ever let any harm whatsoever come to you, that I would finish kicking his ass and I knew at least fifty ways to completely get rid of a body without leaving any forensic trace."

She guffaws. Actually guffaws. Then she pulls my face to her and kisses me and I mean really, really kisses me. Completely owns me kind of kissing. Like kissing they write sonnets about kind of kissing. I feel like the back of my head is blowing off. I hear moaning and realize it's me. "I love you." She says as she pulls back. I can't quite catch my breath. My heart is pounding and I'm shaking. She's made my knees weak. Again. I grab her back and kiss her fiercely, intent on evening the playing field. I hear more moaning and I don't care if it's her or me. Oh my God! I'm so turned on. She pulls back. "Holly. Holly! We have to stop or I'm going to take you on your desk."

"That's not a deterrent Gail. Please think of something else." I take a step back.

"Chris and Bill could come back at any minute and you have 'I've just been kissed' lips."

I just look at her. I see her hand move to her pocket. "If you take that phone out, I'll perform an autopsy on it." She holds her hands up in the air in surrender. I say, "So. I'm sensing a recurring theme here. You seem to kiss me right after I threaten violence to someone's person."

"Yeah. I've got news for you. You're not a pacifist at heart. But you are so very, very hot." She grins at me. I just look at her and tilt my head. She cracks like a walnut. She shrugs, rolls her eyes and says, "I'm just not used to someone having such strong feelings for me. You are really calm and even tempered. I mean you'd have to be, to get along with me. Right? But your feelings for me make you threaten violence and be irrational which is not a descriptor that I'd ever associate with you. It makes me all warm and fuzzy. Okay? Not a big deal."

"I hope you know how much I love you." I put my hands back on her sides unable to keep from touching her. Gail rests her arms on mine with her hands on my shoulders.

"My body remembers. I'm so sore and I have been finding love bites in various places."

"I want to be sorry but I have no regrets about this weekend." I smirk at her. "Oh, you were right, they did have a bet, and Traci won."

"Good for her. I'll save her for last then."

"Gail"

"Oh no. I'm exacting my revenge on them all. I'm starting with Dov. He's the weak sister."

"Go easy on Chris he's injured."

"You just think he's responsible for your last few hours of physical pleasure."

"Eww. Don't say it like that. He is your ex after all."

"Okay so maybe the 9.25 made me a little competitive and I got a little creative. That's what I meant."

"So you admit it?"

"Complaints?"

"God no." I shudder. I have an NC-17 flashback complete with sound.

"You know, nobody would believe me if I told them what a dirty, dirty mind you have. It's not fair. But, I guess, if they knew, then I'd have to fight them off of you more than I have to already." She moves her hands to my neck and begins to maneuver me into a kiss. "Do you have plans tonight?"

"I do yes." Then I kiss her. She pulls back with an honest to god pout on her face. I want to tease her but I find that I can't. "I have plans with you. Come over after shift?"

"Yes. I will." She kisses me then and then steps back. She gestures to the flowers. "I don't want to overstep, but do you want me to handle this? Or help you handle it? You don't have to do this alone Holly. If you're scared of her, we can file a restraining order. I won't let her hurt you."

"It's fine. I'll take care of it." I say confidently.

She looks at me then like she's going to say something else but what comes out of her mouth is "Okay, but if she escalates, then I'm getting involved. No negotiating."

"Okay. Take care of my cop." I say as she's walking out the door.

"Take care of my nerd." She turns and looks at me intently and then she's gone.

It's late in the afternoon when I finally realize that Chris hasn't left my lab all day. He and Bill came back soon after Gail left and removed the rest of the flowers. Bill was going to make sure no one was allowed in my office again without my permission and one of the younger security guards was going to take the flowers to the cancer floor at St. Pat's. Sam had come by to discuss the evidence. Turns out that the brass knuckles belonged to our victim and the blood on them belonged to one Unsub. I was able to eliminate the multiple attacker theory that the detectives had first proposed by typing all the blood samples and determining that there were only two donors. The tests were run and complete. Sam had what he needed. The evidence was cataloged. Chris had no reason to still be there. He'd been sitting in the corner silently and I had gotten engrossed in several overlapping tests while processing his evidence, so much so, that I had honestly forgotten he was there.

"Why are you still here Chris?" I look up from my microscope.

"I'm on duty. They told me to be here."

"I finished that test hours ago. Sam has come and gone. The evidence is catalogued for now. You could have left or even brought new evidence from the station for me to test. Why are you still here?"

"I'm on duty." He repeats.

"Gail put you up to this didn't she?" I say springing up from my chair. I'm so irrationally mad. She's right. She does make me irrational. Dammit! I hate it when she's right.

"No. Now, Holly, just calm down. You filed a police report against Dr. Carson. We ran her record that night. She has had previous assault charges filed against her but they were all dropped. Gail and I did discuss it downstairs, and we called Oliver and he assigned me to you today. I was pretty useless anyway, anywhere else."

"Assault charges?" My heart drops to my stomach. I thought I knew her.

"Yeah. Fairly minor. She was in a bar fight in college, undergrad. Paid restitution. Then there was a pushing and shoving match following an intermural field hockey game. No one was really sure who threw the first punch."

"So that's, that's not like she beat up someone close to her. I mean I'm not making excuses but that sounds like something that could have happened to a lot of folks, drinking and game-time emotions running high. I always knew she had a bad temper but I never thought she'd hurt me."

"Yeah, that's what we thought too but Andy followed up. She interviewed the assault victims. They had both recently broken up with her. I told Gail today. Downstairs."

"But Chris, we've been broken up for over a year. Why now? Why would she try anything, _if_ she was going to try anything, now? I think you all are over-reacting and being over-protective."

"Gail. I think Gail pissed her off. She was still screaming about her when we put her in the holding cell the other night."

"You didn't tell Gail that did you?"

"No, of course not."

"Good, but don't you think if she's upset with Gail, that if she is going to do anything, that Gail is a more likely target? I think she'd need protection more than I do."

"Gail's a cop."

"You're going to tell me that she goes out there and puts her life on the line everyday aren't you? I swear Chris you better not say that to me. Because if Melissa hurts Gail in any way it's not going to be a 'line of duty' thing and you know it. It's going to be personal and it's going to be my fault."

"Now Holly…"

"Don't you 'now Holly' me! I need to make sure she's okay."

"Gail is a cop and her partner would make sure she stayed safe."

"She's partnered with that idiot rookie Moore."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So you tell Oliver, you tell whoever you have to tell, because if I have to put up with you in my lab then I want Gail to have the same protection."

"I will Holly. I promise."

I'm about to say something else when the phone rings. It's Bill the security guard. I have another delivery. I ask him to bring it to my lab please. He walks in a few minutes later with a long black box. Tied with black ribbon. I slide the ribbon off and open the box. "Shit. I'm never going to get to be alone with my thoughts in my lab again am I?"

Chris looks in and sees the single black rose with its head broken off but left inside the box. He says, "Not when Gail hears about this" and then turns to Bill to find out more about the delivery.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks everyone for the support. If you have not already read it, please read chapter 6. There were some issues when I tried to post it and it did not show up for several hours. So if you missed it, it should be up now. **

**All mistakes are mine, Rookie Blue is not. Anyway, here's chapter 7.**

**Holly**

The deliveries kept coming. No more live roses with cards from Melissa. Just black ones with their heads cut off, not broken, as it turns out. The second day there were two, the third day three and so on. My understanding is that detectives interviewed Melissa, who denied knowing anything about the black rose, the very first day. Evidently, even a veiled threat against a forensic pathologist working with the Toronto police department is taken very seriously.

They've staked out the lab, and tried getting information from the various couriers. The deliveries come in at different times of day from different delivery services. I keep thinking that Toronto will soon run out but the flowers just keep coming. I didn't even know you could order black roses with the heads removed. They don't put that on the FTD commercials.

The first delivery annoyed me. The second one annoyed me more. But now I dread them. They make me jumpy and nervous. The security desk offered to keep them downstairs and not notify me and that just made it worse. So I asked them to call up when they arrive and my team goes over them for any forensic evidence. We've come up with nothing.

The last two weekends, the roses were delivered to my house. Gail pinned the first delivery guy against the doorjamb in a choke hold until she was convinced he didn't know anything. The police questioned Melissa again since everyone was sure that she knew where I lived. She still claimed that she did not know anything about the black roses.

In the past two weeks (We're on day 15. I know this because of the helpful rose count. 15 black roses should arrive at some point today.) I've had various officers from 15 in my lab with me. Chris was with me for the entire first week, until his arm healed enough for more active duty, and since then, everyone but Gail has been in my lab, even Moore. They pass me off like a baton in a relay. Shootings and bombings have made them all mistrustful of secure building protocols.

In the evenings, Gail is with me, always. She doesn't talk about it unless I bring it up. She's been pampering me like she did when I had the concussion. It's driving me insane. I love her, but she's driving me insane. I'm not an invalid. I'm just someone who's getting floral deliveries. That's not so bad is it?

I'm not a people person. I'm really not. I work with dead people, and people that work with dead people for god's sake. I mean I can go out and be social like once a week or whatever, but I have not been alone in fifteen days. I have the most gorgeous woman who lets me use her body as a playground on a regular basis and all I want to do is lock myself in a room and read a book. That's normal right? I'm going insane.

I have gotten to know the folks from 15 much better. Not all of them have Chris' talent for staying silent. Unfortunately, I have not been at my best. It seems that I need some alone time in order to be me. Some of the highlights were:

**Day 9 with Officer McNally**

"Dr Stewart"

"Holly" I correct her.

"Holly, does the inside of the skull always look like that?"

"Pretty much."

"It's kinda pretty."

"It can be."

"So do you know 'cause of death?"

"Nope. Not yet."

"I bet it was poison. What do you think?"

"I think I'd finish this autopsy faster if I wasn't answering questions."

**Day 10 with Officer Epstein**

"Holly, do you want to play some trivia? I brought my cards." I just stare at him. "I guess not."

**Day 12 with Officer Collins**

"Nick, I have to ask you something." He looks up at me from the magazine he was reading. Nick has Gail and Chris' gift of being still and observant.

"Yes?"

"Normally I would never ask you this but I'm going to blame this on my state of mind right now. You don't have to answer but I have to ask."

"Okay." He puts the magazine down.

"You left Gail, not once, but twice. I just don't understand how that works. I mean she's going overboard with the hovering but I can't imagine walking away from her, especially if you were so committed that we were going to get married."

He looks at me strangely and then says, "You said 'we'."

"What?"

"You said, 'especially if you were so committed that _we_ were going to get married.'"

I color slightly and say, "I meant you obviously. If you were so committed that you were going to get married. I don't understand leaving her."

"Is that what Gail told you?"

"Well, I know that the second time she 'created an emergency situation to get out of the tree.'" He just looks at me blankly. "It's a Gail metaphor. Suffice it to say, it's not totally your fault."

"I meant about the engaged thing."

"Gail doesn't really talk about it. Most of what I know comes from when we were friends and she was navigating through you and Andy being together."

"I see."

"Like I said, you don't have to answer."

He thinks a moment, "Gail is great. I mean she's weird and bitchy but still great. I know you see it. But we didn't exactly bring out the best in each other. I think we both needed different things from one another. Gail never needed me, or let me correct that, she never let me know she needed me. Does that make sense?"

"Oh yeah."

"The Gail that I see with you, I got glimpses of her, but she wasn't around all the time. I think you're good for her Holly. I think you're good for each other. I'm glad she's happy."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I was rude."

"Anytime and you weren't rude. You were just…sort of Gail-like." He winks at me and I feel better. "You let me know when you get around to 'we' alright?" Dammit. I need some alone time.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Today is Day 15 and Chloe Price is in my lab. After everything that Gail has said about her, and my current state of mind, I'm almost afraid to be with her today. She is relentlessly perky. She talks almost incessantly, like a running stream or babbling brook or Niagara Falls. She really is quite sweet though. The phone in my lab rings while I'm forearm deep in a chest cavity.

"Holly, do you want me to get that?"

"Yes please."

"Dr. Stewart's Lab. Oh hey Traci. Really? When? Okay. I'll tell her. Yeah. Okay. Bye." She hangs up the phone.

"That was Traci. There's some big shot profiler coming in to interview you and look at the evidence we have so far. She'll be here any minute. Traci is calling the security desk to clear her but she wanted to give us a heads up."

I have an irrational fear. "Did they say a name?"

"Dr. Thompson I think."

"No. No. No. No. That can't be the name." I almost put my head in my hands before I realize what I'm doing.

**Gail**

The past two weeks have been hell. The idea of something happening to Holly, something I have no control over, is awful. I'm not even sure I was this scared in that basement. No. Scratch that. That's an exaggeration. But if I knew Holly would be okay, I'd go back into that basement. In a heartbeat. That's the God's honest truth. The problem is no one is sure where the danger is coming from, or if there is even any "real danger." Sam and Traci interviewed Melissa as soon as they could. We've had her under surveillance. They've checked all her bank records, phone records, hell we even got a search warrant for her electronic devices. The only flower order they found was for the 72 long stem red roses that she ordered and had delivered with that stupid card.

I want to be with Holly every minute. Oliver insisted that I could not be assigned to the lab. He said we both needed a break from each other. He means that Holly needs a break from me. He told me if it was Celery he'd be smothering her and driving her insane and he knows I'm doing the same thing to Holly. He said it makes us great cops, but not great when someone we love is in crisis. He reminded me of what happened to him when his daughter Izzy was in trouble. I relented but demanded that I be kept in the loop on the investigation. He agreed and he's kept his promise.

I've yelled at everyone, and I mean everyone. When Sam told me to back off I asked him what he'd do if it was Andy. He just looked at me hard and walked away. I've even considered asking my mother for help, and if I thought she'd actually be useful, I'd swallow my pride and make a deal with the devil to make sure Holly was safe. I have to say though, I know everyone is doing everything that they can to make sure Holly is safe. Nick even took a shift on his day off and I know he doesn't need the overtime. I'm grateful, I really am. I'm just so sick with worry. It'd be just like the universe to fuck with me this way once I've finally gotten happy.

I'm at my desk when Traci walks up. "Hey, just wanted to let you know that we got that profiler to come and look at the evidence that we have. She's also going to review any cases that Holly has been involved with to determine whether or not anyone connected to them is likely to be doing this."

"That's great. When will she be here?"

"She should be at the lab now. She went over straight from the airport."

"You think I could be there for this? I'd really like to be there for Holly if she needs me."

"I don't see why not. I'm sure Oliver will make an exception this time."

"I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to take my lunch there."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I walk into the morgue and begin my search for Holly. I check her office first, just in case she's there, I want just a minute alone with her to touch her and make sure she's okay. Just that moment I need to settle myself. I walk to her door and she's there, gloriously alive and well, with her back to me, in that lab coat. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. She stiffens.

I put my lips to her ear and say, "God, you even make this lab coat look sexy. You wanna lock the door and tell me about my pelvic muscles?" She laughs.

"What do you want to know about your pelvic muscles?" She responds.

"Gail?" I hear from the doorway. I turn to see Holly, her hands in her lab coat pockets standing at the door to her office. I turn the woman in my arms around and it's Holly too. Wait. Not Holly. Same hair, same mole, the eyes, the glasses are different or maybe it's the eyes themselves. She's wearing a suit, not the outfit that Holly was wearing this morning. Holly at the door is in that outfit. I look back and forth between them stupefied. I take a step back from Not Holly.

Not Holly begins to laugh again. She reaches out a hand to me, "You must be Gail Peck. I'm Isabelle Stewart Thompson, Holly's twin." She turns to Holly. "Little Sister, I'm worried about your pillow talk. She just asked me to tell her about her pelvic muscles."

If I had just had to give a speech in parade naked, I wouldn't be more embarrassed than I am at this moment. My face feels so red, that I'm hot now. Actually, I feel a little dizzy. I sit down heavily in Holly's visitor's chair. Holly says, "Izzy play nice."

"You know, she did tell me I make the lab coat sexy. She seemed surprised by it. Perhaps you don't make it look quite as good as I do."

Holly narrows her eyes, "Izzy."

"Fine. I'll stop teasing her. You didn't mention me did you? I think she's in shock."

I recover enough to speak. "She said sister. Never mentioned the words 'identical' 'twin' or 'coming to visit'." I turn to Holly. "Those are pretty important pieces of information to mention. You might want to let your girlfriend know so she doesn't make a fool of herself."

"I didn't know she was coming until Chloe told me there was a profiler coming and said her name." Holly responds.

"Why are you wearing a lab coat?" I ask Not Holly, I mean Isabelle.

"Because this outfit is Armani and I like to be prepared."

"Hold up. You're the profiler? How is that possible?"

"Well, not technically. No one realized Holly was my sister but even I'm not that arrogant so I'm assisting Morgan Stevens, my colleague, with the case. Typically, I take the lead and he assists me but he's perfectly capable and I trust him with my life. But no one was shutting me out if there was a possibility that Holly was in danger." We share a meaningful look.

"I'm sorry about…before. I wasn't expecting anyone but Holly to be in her office wearing her lab coat looking like Holly."

"Understandable." She replies.

"So should I call you Isabelle?" I ask.

"That's fine in a professional situation. Almost everyone in the family calls me Izzy though, and from what Holls tells me, you're practically family."

"Almost?"

"My mother insists on calling me 'Belle'"

A thought occurs to me. "Bell and Holly? Oh my God! This is why you won't tell me when your birthday is! Isn't it Holly? You were born on Christmas or something weren't you?" I ask Holly.

Izzy speaks, "December 24th. My full name is Carol Isabelle." She waits for me to get it.

"Carol of the Bells?"

"That's the one."

I start to laugh. I have no idea whether it's appropriate or not. I honestly don't care. I'm so relieved to have the focus turned away from my own embarrassment. I turn to Holly. "Please tell me that your first name is Deck or Hall or Boughs. Pretty please."

"It is not." She says and draws her lips into a tight line.

I start hopping up and down. "Is your middle name 'Wreath'? No! No! No! It's 'Jolly' isn't it?!" I turn to Isabelle. "Tell me it's Jolly."

Isabelle starts laughing too. "Oh I like her. She's quick and snarky."

Holly finally answers, "It's Garland. It's a family name, unfortunately, and fit with the Christmas theme. Mom was pretty well medicated because there were complications so she thought the names were genius at the time and Dad thought they were too funny to change. Had I been born first, I'd have the almost normal name."

"Most important three minutes of my life Little Sister."

"Holly Garland Stewart" I say.

"Gail, have I mentioned lately that I know at least seventy-five ways to dispose of a body?"

"Is that a threat against a police officer, Lunchbox?"

"A police officer's lunchbox?" Izzy asks in confusion.

"It's her nickname for me. She called me that when we met at a crime scene because she did not recognize that I was carrying a forensic toolkit."

"Your lover's nickname for you is 'Lunchbox'? Oh my God, this is classic!"

Holly looks up at the ceiling and sighs.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I walk into the parade room later that evening to take part in the profilers' briefing of progress thus far. Not many people are there yet but I spot Dov, Chris, and Nick. I walk over. "Losers, pay attention! Holly has a twin sister who's a profiler. Her last name is different because when she married she took her wife's name to avoid any confusion with their father who's a big shot in the Psych world. It would kinda be like if I got to shed the 'Peck'. Anyway, yes she's a lesbian, and she looks exactly like Holly. I better not hear anything gross or perverted coming from any of you or I will kick you in the balls so hard they'll get lodged in your nostrils." I say and smile.

Nick just smiles back and I remember a little bit why I liked him in the first place. He seems cool with it. Chris and Dov however are staring at me with their mouths open. Chris says, "You just said lesbian twins."

"Shut up. Don't be an asshole." I retort.

"Gail, we're not. Chris was just restating what you said." Dov replies looking at Chris who still resembles a fish.

"Whatever. Just don't get me in trouble with Holly okay?" I say as I sit down. "Or I'll tase you in the balls." There that made me feel better. I smile.

Traci, Steve, and Sam walk into the parade room. Traci shoots me a look as if to say "did you know?" and I just shake my head slightly. Oliver, a guy I don't recognize, who I assume to be Stevens, and Isabelle follow. The guy is Caucasian, about thirty-five I'd guess, with a funny little goatee and a moustache. Slight build, 185 pounds maybe, about 5'10", brown and brown. He looks like my French TA from university. He's wearing a tweed coat with elbow patches, honest to god.

Andy walks in, looks at Isabelle and says, "Hey Holly, didn't know you'd be joining us." Holly and Chloe walk in before Isabelle can correct her mistake. Andy looks between them, her head on a swivel. A classic double-take. From this side of it, I can see how this would be funny. I try to remain stoic because I can sense that Isabelle would be the type of person to bring up another anecdote to relate to this situation and I'd really like to keep the scene in Holly's office between the three of us. So even though I'm enjoying Andy's confusion, I contain my glee. Still, I feel eyes on me and I see Holly watching me. She knows. She's smirking.

Oliver begins speaking, "As you've guessed by now, we have a very special visitor here with us today. Our good doctor has a twin sister, Dr. Isabelle Thompson. Dr. Thompson will be assisting Dr. Morgan Stevens in trying to determine the psychology of our unidentified florist. We believe that today we've eliminated Dr. Melissa Carson from contention which brings up another set of issues.

"We will continue to provide Dr. Stewart protection 24/7. In fact, we will be increasing our presence since we do not know if these flowers are coming from a group or an individual. We will have a visible patrol car outside her residence and the lab and an unmarked surveillance vehicle at her residence at all times. She will be accompanied at all times by a personal security officer, whose top priority is her safety. In the lab, this position will rotate but to keep her more comfortable, Peck will be the officer in her home." He looks at Steve, then back out at us, "Little Peck."

Oliver continues, "The security in the morgue building is being tightened as well. Only badged employees will be permitted in certain areas and un-badged personnel or visitors must be accompanied by a badged morgue employee at all times. This means that anyone who works on the protection detail will get a morgue badge from security. Be prepared to present your badge and a picture ID. We will not have another Ford situation." We all nod in acknowledgment.

Oliver looks over at Holly, "Dr. Stewart's been involved in several high profile cases, some involving possible organized crime players, and is set to testify in several of them in the upcoming weeks. Her safety is our top priority. The brass has authorized any necessary overtime." He turns to look at us, "Any questions?" He steps away from the podium to make way for Dr. Stevens.

"As Staff Sergeant Shaw said, we have been able to eliminate Melissa Carson. She cooperated and agreed to an evaluation. Also, your detectives found no evidence to support that she had ordered any flowers besides the live red ones that were delivered the first day prior to the first black one. We believe that the increasing number of flowers is significant." He looks as Isabelle who nods giving him permission to continue. "The more flowers the more significant whatever they are harbingers of will be."

Andy raises her hand. "Harbingers, sir?"

"A herald, a precursor, McNally" I say. "He means warning. They're being sent as a warning of some type. The more flowers the more serious the warning."

"Yes, exactly, officer Peck. I'm sorry. Usually Dr. Thompson delivers these. I'm more theoretical. Sorry for the arcane vocabulary."

Andy looks at me and I shrug, "Hey, I just knew that last one from watching _Lost Girl_."

Isabelle laughs and responds, "Morgan is very good at what he does but sometimes I have to translate for him. He forgets that not everyone has six degrees. And please, for the purposes of our investigation, please call us Isabelle and Morgan. We keep it pretty informal.

"We've reached out to specific resources within CSIS and the FBI for any other cases relating to this type of delivery. We should know more later in the week at the latest. Your detectives have reached out but Morgan and I have contacts within the various profiling departments that should be more forthcoming. At least they should be, if they want to stay in my good graces.

"The profile that Morgan has created, and I agree with, is a white male 25-35. Highly organized loner with few friends. Meticulous attention to detail. We know this because Holly's forensic team has found no evidence and I know that they're very good at what they do. Also, the flower stems are cut exactly two centimeters from the end of the bud. Every flower received is the same. The angle of the cut is the same. It's possible that the unidentified subject is using mechanical means to remove the heads and this would explain the precision of the cuts but it is also possible that this is part of the ritual.

"The flowers are very important to the game he's playing. He would anticipate that the flowers and their delivery would intimidate the recipient. The fact that the flowers are delivered every day but at different times of day, would mean that the recipient would be looking over their shoulder all day. Dreading the delivery. This is psychological warfare plain and simple.

"I know I don't have to tell you all this but be on your toes. We believe that whoever is doing this is very serious and very dangerous. Take nothing for granted. Check everything. Questions?"

Oliver moved back to the podium. "I know you all consider Dr. Stewart" he looks over at her and smiles, "Holly, one of our own. I know you will do whatever is necessary to ensure her safety. However, do not take any chances. We do this by the book as much as possible. Everyone be safe out there…"

Before he can dismiss us I raise my hand, "Oliver?"

"Yes, Petulant Peck?"

"What about Isabelle? Won't we need to protect her as well? I mean, she is walking around Toronto with Holly's face." Holly looks over at me and smiles her half-smile. Isabelle looks a little taken aback.

"We have already discussed that and yes we will. She will be staying with Holly in the evenings and will be escorted here in the mornings. We do not believe she'll need protection while she's in the station but we are going to tighten security protocols just in case." I nod. "Any other questions? Well then, assignments are on the board. Be safe out there. Dismissed."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Holly**

Gail is upstairs in the shower. I want to join her, but Izzy and I are trying to decide on what to do for dinner. I'm happy to see her, but siblings are siblings.

"How about Indian?" She asks.

"Not really in the mood for it. Did you tell Mom and Dad?"

"Nope. Not my story to tell. But you're gonna be in so much trouble." She responds and I sigh. "Why didn't you reach out to me? Do you know what it's like to find out that your sister is being stalked through a request that came through professional channels?"

"I didn't know that they would contact you. You're in Vancouver after all."

"What can I say, I'm the best at what I do. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's senseless. It's just flowers. I shouldn't be this rattled by flowers. I feel silly."

"Holls, it's not silly. I really meant it. The flowers are designed to make you feel this way and I'm only here to help. In any way I can."

"I know." I hug her.

"Vietnamese?" She asks.

"The spices give me vivid dreams sometimes."

"Okaaay. What do you want?"

"How about Italian?"

"You know I hate tomato sauce."

"Gail's actually allergic. I was thinking white pizza or pasta. It's been a hectic couple of days for all of us. I think we deserve the comfort food."

"That sounds good." She pauses, "I really do like her. She suits you."

"Really?"

"Yes. She's…I don't really have a word for it, which is odd…sneakily sweet?"

I laugh, "She is, but don't let her know that you know."

"I won't." She laughs. "You know I was really touched that she was worried about me."

"She's like that, she hides it most of the time but it's always there." I pick up the phone to order. I know exactly what my sister and Gail would want. I speak to the same woman I always do at the little place on the corner. They tell me that it'll be about 45 minutes. I relay that to Izzy and take a drink of my bottle of water.

Izzy speaks, "So, you said she was gorgeous, you didn't do her justice though. How's the sex?"

I almost spew water on the counter. "You did that on purpose."

"Maybe. So c'mon, before she gets out of the shower. I need details."

"No details, but it's by far and away the best sex I've ever had."

"Even better than the American soccer player?"

"God yes."

"Have you told her you love her?"

"Yes."

"And? It's like pulling teeth with you. And?"

"Actually, she told me first. You know we were broken up, well after the concussion incident we got back together and she told me after our first official date."

"You're happy then?"

"More than I've ever been in my life. She's beautiful, smart, funny, sarcastic, sweet, and thoughtful. Though she hides 'sweet, and thoughtful' a lot."

"I'm glad you're happy."

"How's Tori?" I ask about Isabelle's wife, who's a surgeon in Vancouver.

"Pregnant actually. We found out a while ago but have been waiting to tell folks until she was out of her first trimester."

"Oh my God! I'm going to be an aunt! Congratulations!" I hug her.

"Thanks, but you haven't heard the best part yet. Twins!"

"Twins?"

"Yep. They run in Tori's family too."

I hug her again. "I'm so happy for you both Izzy! So happy for you both!" I start to cry. I hear Gail coming down the stairs and I start wiping the tears away.

Gail looks at us both assessing the situation. "Did you pick on her and make her cry Izzy?"

"I'm going to be an aunt Gail! Izzy's wife, Tori, is having twins!"

A smile breaks across her face then and she looks at Izzy, "Congratulations!"

Izzy looks back at her and says, "I expect you to be the cool aunt." I feel my chest constrict. Gail is the first one of my girlfriends that Izzy has made the effort to include in her life. I'm so happy in this moment. Izzy is making sure that Gail feels like part of the family. I smile at her in gratitude and love.

Gail makes a face and says, "Of course. Did you think it would be the super-nerd here?" and hugs me tightly then kisses my cheek. "Lunchbox, we have to get something Star Wars for our first baby gift because Star Wars is cool."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

Holly and I are in her bedroom later that night getting ready for bed. Holly has just pulled on my ratty Police Academy t-shirt over some loose cotton shorts when I begin speaking, "I like your sister. She's you, but not you, you know?"

"I guess?" She arches her eyebrow.

"I mean, I don't like her like I like you. That's not what I mean. I mean…arghh…I mean I usually hate people and I don't hate her."

"I see. You know, most people usually warm up to Izzy first. She's more outgoing than I am. More of a people person, more self-confident, more carefree, more fun. In high school, she was everyone's favorite twin."

"Holly…"

"No. I know you don't mean it that way. I'm just letting you know okay? Izzy can't help it. She's just…just Izzy, but I just wanted to tell you."

"Well, you're definitely my favorite." I say as I walk over to her and put my hands on her hips.

"How do you know?"

"I think Izzy and I are too much alike to get along. She has a mean streak doesn't she?" I tilt my head like Holly does trying out her Jedi mind trick on her.

"I like to think of it as a mischievous streak but yes, she can be caustic."

"I knew it!" I pull her into a loose embrace. I look into her eyes and say, "You're the most wonderful person I've ever met. You're smart, and you're sexy, in a sexy librarian way, and who knew, that's…that's my thing, I'm different with you. I'm better with you. You make me want to be better."

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Yeah well. Don't get used to it. Now, there is only one Stewart in this house that I want to share a bed with and you're her. You are Holly right? This isn't some twin mischief?" I say to lighten the mood.

"Yes Gail. I'm Holly." She says as she sighs.

"How do I know?" I smirk at her. "What is the first thing you ever taught me?"

"Medical jurisprudence?" She says as she purses her lips.

"No Holly, diatoms. You taught me about diatoms." I lean into her neck and rub my nose along the underside of her jaw.

"Huh. I thought it was about medical jurisprudence." She replies as I begin to trace the underside of her jaw with my tongue.

"Do you really want to argue with me right now?" I say as I nip at her neck gently with my teeth.

"No, that's not what's coming to mind."

"Do you think you can be quiet?"

"Probably not." She says as she pulls me into a kiss. I feel her tongue in my mouth, so sweet and insistent. She puts her hands under my shirt and her fingers splay across the small of my back pulling me toward her and the bed. I grab the hem of the Academy T-Shirt and pull it over her head. I nudge her backward and she sits on the bed.

"As long as you're sure that you don't care if your sister hears us." I say unbuttoning my shirt slowly one button at a time. She is watching the movement of my hands intently. I unclasp my bra from the front and shrug out of it. I unceremoniously drop my pants and underwear.

"Gail?"

"Yes?" I reply waiting for her to look me in the eyes.

She does and says, "That's the last time we're going to talk about my sister tonight."

"Whatever you say." I respond as I push her back on the bed. I pull off her shorts quickly. She pushes herself up on the bed more, bending her legs and pushing off with her feet. I follow her my hands roaming all over her naked body. This time isn't going to be about love or affection even though it's there. It's going to be about need. We both need this. We need to feel alive. We need to feel connected. It's going to be desperate, and when I feel her fingers enter me I know it's going to be quick as well. I move my hand down her stomach and across her mound. I enter her and she's so wet, so ready. She responds by pushing into me harder. "Oh! You feel so good baby."

"Which part? My hands or my core?" She responds breathlessly.

"Both" I manage as I arch my back involuntarily responding to her touch. I want to curse. I want to scream but I really am shy about the possibility that someone from Holly's family could hear us. I manage to bury my head in her neck and bite down where her neck meets her shoulder to muffle the scream that accompanies my orgasm. Holly, evidently has no such concerns. As soon as I regain my hearing I hear her excited cries.

As the last shockwaves move through her body she looks into my eyes sheepishly. "Hey there"

"Hey" I say and kiss her.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"I love you better." She smiles at me.

"No arguments here. Let's get some sleep Nerd." I say, as I lay on my back so that Holly can lay her head on my chest over my heart while I hold her. "Sweet dreams Baby." I say, as I kiss the top of her head.

**A/N – I have friends who are, in fact, lesbian twins and the hug actually happened. One of the girlfriends hugged the wrong twin from behind and said something suggestive. We still kid her about it. :D Hope you enjoyed Chapter 7.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Hey folks,**

**Before anyone gets their panties in a twist about some dialogue in this chapter, let me say I'm an American and I reserve the right to make fun of us a lil bit. It's all in good fun anyway. Hope you enjoy. Thanks so much for all the faves, follows and reviews.**

**Gail**

Friday morning I walk into the detectives' bullpen in Guns and Gangs in time to witness a solitary Izzy kick Steve's trash can across the room. She's got her cellphone gripped so tightly in her left hand, her knuckles are white, and she's screaming into the phone.

"You conceited, egotistical, pompous, imperialist! Did you even consider how your decision would impact other law-enforcement agencies? Not to mention possible victims?! You know what?!...Go ahead and report me you cretinous, half-witted, idiotic fuck-head!" She followed this by hurling her phone across the room. It broke into exactly three pieces.

It would be hell to be on a family plan with the Stewart girls. You'd never be the one to get the new phone. I school my face into a blank stare because I really want to laugh at the parallel. I wonder how similar they really are. I wonder if this outburst is as unusual for Izzy as it was for Holly when she murdered her phone a few weeks ago.

"Izzy?" I say tentatively. I don't want to surprise her, so I feel the need to alert her to my presence in the room. She looks at me and crumples into a desk chair. I rush over and kneel in front of her. "Izzy, what is it? What's happened?"

"Gail, I'll tell you, I promise. I don't have any information that can't wait about an hour. I need to calm down. I can't think and I need to think."

"Okay. Your sister likes to beat on a body bag at the gym or go to the batting cages." I raise my eyebrow at her to see if that's what she wants to do.

"Not just no, but hell no. I need to shoot something." She smirks at me. It's eerily similar to Holly's. It throws me for about half a second, but I recover.

"That's my kinda girl. Weapons! We need weapons! C'mon." I stand. "I'll get someone to cover the first couple of hours of my shift, and we'll go to the tactical range. Ever fired an assault rifle or a shotgun that fires slugs?"

She smiles at me. "Holly said you were a sweet-talker" she says as she rises from the chair.

"Alrightly, then. We're off." Then I look over at her phone. "You wanna pick that up? I've got a guy. Because Holly just had to get a new phone, he might give us a deal."

She bends down and picks up the pieces. "Oh, did she drop it in a body again? You know she did that once and tried to clean it! I talked her into just getting a new phone. Just ewww."

"Ewww?" I say and she just looks at me. "Whatever. You and your sister share way too many things, you have the same vocabulary, the same facial expressions and evidently the same reaction when someone pisses you off when you're on the phone." She just stares at me again. "Gah! You just called someone 'cretinous,' you should be quicker than this. I'll tell you the whole story on the way to the range."

While Izzy negotiated with my phone guy, I made all the arrangements, and had to call in more than a few favors, even once resorting to the dreaded, 'yes, I'm that Peck's daughter,' but I got Izzy thirty uninterrupted minutes on the tactical range. She shot everything. I think if they'd had a machine gun she'd have shot that too. She wasn't a bad shot, not incredibly disciplined, but then again, she didn't have Elaine Peck in her ear since she was seven either. Still, it wasn't half bad for a shrink. When she was finished, and all the gear was put away, we began the walk back to the squad.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

She stops and turns to me. She doesn't reach out to me. Either Holly has told her, or she just intuitively knows, because she's a shrink or a Stewart, that I don't like to be touched. "No. Don't do that. I know this was a lot of trouble. So thank you. I really needed it."

"I know, and I really meant it. I…did you have rules in your family growing up?"

If she's thrown by my non sequitur, she doesn't show it. "Yes. If we had to share something, one of us divided it, and then the other one got to pick a piece first. I hated that one."

"Sneaky."

"Yeah. Dad was pretty proud of that one. I think that's where Holly developed her surgeon hands." She laughs a bit.

"Anyway, in my family it was Duty, Honor, fellow officers, and then family. The job always came first in my house growing up. I always knew it. Steve always knew it. I can't change the fact that I'm a police officer to the bone, hell, my mother raised us, training us the entire time to be good cops. Those were the rules.

"Sometimes Duty, and all the shit that comes with it, is going to come first, because that's how it is when you're a cop, but it's not my top priority anymore. Your sister is the most important thing in the world to me, and you're important to her. I need you to be okay because she does. Not just because you're on her case, but because you're hers and that means you're mine too. Also, I don't happen to hate you." I finish in a rush.

She just smirks at me again with her almost Holly smile. "C'mon Cop, let me buy you a donut and we'll talk about my phone call. I'd like your input."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

The donut came at a price. I now knew why Izzy was so angry. However, I couldn't react. Even now sitting in the parade room waiting on the others, I can't react because if I let myself, I'm not sure I could stop. I suggested we tell Oliver, and I suggested we keep the team small. Oliver and I had to personally vouch for the smaller, 'in-the-know', team. I might be angrier than Izzy, and she was pretty damn angry. People file in and I see Holly walk into the room accompanied by McNally. I need to check on her.

"Get lost for a minute McNally. I can guard the 'prisoner.'" I joke. McNally walks to the back of the room to join Sam.

"Not funny Gail." Holly says as she looks me in the eye.

"Hey beautiful. How are you holding up today? You still having desert island fantasies?" I say as I walk closer to her and put my hands on her hips bringing our lips together in a slow chaste kiss. She hums into the kiss and then pulls back so that she's holding both of my hands.

"How do you do that?" She asks.

"Do what?"

"Know what I'm thinking."

"Because I'm awesome." She does the head tilt thing. I sigh, "You also might talk in your sleep a little bit when you're stressed about something."

She shakes her head at that. "So embarrassing. But you, do you have no shame?"

"None whatsoever. Superintendent Mom said that police work was 90% luck and 10% timing. I consider being there, while you sleep, to gather the information a bit of both. Also, I know when you first realized you had a crush on me."

"Gail!"

"Just kidding. But how about when all this is over, we go on vacation? Just the two of us. I'll even let you have some alone time if you want. I know this is hard on you."

"Somewhere sunny?"

I roll my eyes for form. "Yes. Even somewhere sunny but it's going to be your responsibility to keep me covered in sunscreen. I'm delicate."

She smirks that adorable smirk and some of the spark that was missing in her eyes returns. "Deal." She pauses for a moment and then the spark is gone and replaced by worry. "Do you know what this is about?"

"I do."

"Can you tell me?"

"Izzy is going to do a full briefing but only for the people in this room. She has the information so it'll be more accurate and more complete coming from her."

"Fine" she relents. "You really did ask me when I knew I had a crush on you didn't you?"

"Yep. Pretty much the moment you laid eyes on me." I squeeze her hands.

She looks at me then, really looks at me. "I know how hard this is for you too. As we've already established, I'm not stupid. So I think we're going to need to work in some naked alone time for us so that I can make it up to you." Then she kisses me on the cheek and walks back to where McNally is standing with Sam. I'm so caught up in what that little promise might involve I do not hear Izzy come up behind me.

"Just so you know…" I startle when she speaks, and she just laughs softly and then continues, "I was saying, just so you know, I've never seen her this way with anyone. She loves you. She's happy. Don't fuck it up or I'll have to hurt you."

"I did that already. I won't do it again" I reply. She waits for an explanation and damn if she doesn't tilt her head like Holly, and dammit if it doesn't work. "I mean I had help. Lisa was involved."

"Lemme guess. Holly is wasting her talent in forensics and you're 'just a cop.' Was that the gist of it?"

"Yeah pretty much but I was 'just a _beat_ cop.'"

"Lisa has never been good at warm and fuzzy. Actually, you remind me a lot of her. Fiercely loyal, speaks her mind, no tolerance for bullshit."

"Did you seriously just compare me to 'botched-boob-job'?" I ask incredulously.

"Never, ever, come up with a nickname for me. Are we clear on that?" I just nod because evidently my powers of snark are severely diminished when confronted with the particular blend of Stewart-Snark.

She continues, "Lisa is the 'call-bullshit' friend and Rachel is blindly supportive. They work as Holly's support system, and have since med-school, but one is almost useless without the other. They balance each other out. Lisa always hated Melissa because she felt like she tried to control Holly. She was the one who Holly would shut out when she and Melissa got back together because she didn't want to hear it. Rachel would be blindly supportive and feed information to Lisa to keep her up to date on the goings on in Holly and Melissa's relationship. If you manage to get both of them on your side, you're going to be around a long, long time.

"Lisa really does care about Holly, she tried to set her up with several different women to get her to move on after Holly and Melissa broke up. I think they ranged from, corporate accountant to an orthopedic surgeon. She felt like Holly needed someone to stimulate her mind, and sadly, she confused a sharp mind with occupation."

"Cops aren't really known as intellectuals."

"Gail, we both know you're a lot smarter than you pretend to be. If you weren't, my sister wouldn't have given you the time of day, much less be in a relationship with you. I don't care how gorgeous you are." I just raise my eyebrows at her. "Dammit, that came out wrong."

"That's okay Izzy. It's nice to know I have the same effect on you that you seem to have on me. Let's blame Holly."

"That sounds like a plan. I better get up there and get this over with."

I watched Izzy stride to the front of the room and take her place at the podium. Confidence, and power radiate from her. She and Holly are so much alike and yet so different. She looked just enough like Holly to make me take notice at times but where Holly was warm and open, Izzy was guarded and closed off. Odd that Holly remained open working with the dead, and Izzy and I closed off with the living. Izzy waited for the activity in the room to die down. She motioned for Oliver to close the door.

"Folks, look around. This meeting is 'need to know' only. Only the people in this room can know this information. No exceptions. Staff Sergeant Shaw and Officer Peck have personally vouched for each one of you. If there are any leaks of this information, there will be a full investigation, there will be hell to pay and…you'll most likely endanger Holly's life." She waits for that to sink in before continuing.

"Our American brethren, rash, gun-toting cowboys that they are, have a suspect in custody that they believe is our mystery florist. In their paternalistic wisdom, the FBI chose not to share information with CSIS, or Toronto PD, because they critically injured this subject and he's on life support in Queens. They believe, and unfortunately I concur, that keeping his condition a secret is vital to our finding out who's behind him. So this information does not go beyond this room."

She points to a picture on the wall and continues, "The subject is Damir Bolotnikov, a contract killer, mainly for Russian mafia. His signature is to leave a black rose with its head removed next to the body…" I see her look toward the back of the room and I know she's looking at Holly gauging how she's reacting. I look at Izzy and she barely nods at me and I know Holly is doing okay. "In addition to the rose, there is a playing card that has significance which is also left with the body. For example, Jack of Hearts is for betrayal. Queen of Spades would be for a female enemy. Anyway, the reason you did not get a hit in first week is that typically a playing card would be included in one of the deliveries. Bolotnikov is known as the "Death Dealer" which sounds kinda cool, but just brings an image of Kate Beckinsale in a leather cat suit to my mind." Izzy's joke works to cut the tension in the room.

Traci interrupts, "What do you mean the first week? How long has the FBI had Bolotnikov?" Traci isn't stupid either.

"Two weeks. They captured him after they received your first inquiry." Izzy replies. The anger clearly showing on her face.

"Motherfu…"

"Nash!" Oliver interrupts. "Believe me, you can't be the angriest person in this room. We will do our jobs. We will be professional. Please continue Dr. Thompson."

"Isabelle please." She responds absently to Oliver. "Detective Nash, Traci, I share your frustration. We all do. But as _Oliver_ points out," She looks over at him to see if he's registered the informality. He has, and he smiles at her in approval. "We now must take into consideration the four possibilities." She waits a beat to make sure everyone is paying attention. "1) The person sending the flowers has no connection to Bolotnikov or the Bratva and is not a threat but simply a tool. 2) The person sending the flowers is a copycat, or an apprentice assassin with loyalty ties to Bolotnikov and will try to complete the mission on his own 3) The person sending the flowers is part of the mob-machine who's loyalty lies with the Bratva and finally 4) The FBI has the wrong person in custody.

"None of these scenarios are great and we're going to talk strategy about each of them. However, I believe scenarios 2 & 4 have the greatest potential for variability. If we can find out who in the Bratva ordered the hit, then we have a greater chance to control number 3. However, if the apprentice finds out that his master is wounded, he will escalate and become impulsive which will make it harder to anticipate any of his moves. Anything to add Morgan?" Izzy asks turning to the silent profiler to her left. He shakes his head no. She continues, "Alright then, let's get to work. Holly, do you want to be here for this or do you want to be in your lab?"

I turn to look at Holly, as does every person in the room. She looks at us all and speaks, "Thank you all so much for protecting me but I want to take part in this. I need to have a role in my own safety. Even if it's just theoretical."

We worked at it for hours. Going over possible scenarios. Oliver decided it was best to say that we'd gotten an anonymous tip for the Russian mob starting point to explain away any information that could be traced back to the FBI. If pressed, Sam would say it was one of his confidential informants since Sam was well known for not documenting his weasels. Once we finally had a target, Steve, Traci and Sam actually made some headway.

Illya Petrovich, a local Bratva captain, had ordered the hit on Holly for the whopping price tag of $200,000 dollars. She had linked his oldest son, Anton, to the murder of a young prostitute by first finding a fingerprint on the girl's leather shoe, and then when the judge (who may, or may not have been on the Bratva payroll) was finally forced to compel Anton to present DNA evidence, she nailed him. She had found his DNA on the girl's clothing and then matched Anton's blood to a miniscule amount of blood left at the scene when he cut himself with what she determined was the murder weapon, a Kizlyar Tactical folding knife that Steve was able to link to Anton. It was a forensic masterpiece. I was proud of Holly that she was just that damn good. Steve said that the District Attorney, who was a sour little man, was practically dancing out of his office when they met with him because he felt like it was a slam dunk.

Word on the street was, the Bratva was not happy with Anton or Illya, so if we handled this right, Holly would be in the clear. Meaning that the Bratva had not ordered the hit. This was personal. Not business. I felt like I could breathe again. Ever since Izzy had sat me down and told me that it was a Russian contract killer that was after Holly, I'd been coming up with best case/worst case scenarios. This wasn't best case but it wasn't worst case by a long shot. She wasn't in the clear, but this was preferable to being on the run from the Russian mob for the rest of our lives. We had a chance.

Anton was seen as a liability because his drug use had made him violent and unpredictable. I don't think they minded the violence so much as the unpredictability. And Illya's protection of Anton, at the possible expense of the Bratva would be seen as unacceptable. We just had to figure out the best strategy for this.

"People it's getting late" Oliver began. We all groaned like children being sent to bed. "Some of you have stakeouts to get to. And Diaz, if anyone asks you where the tip came from tell them you don't know. You're a terrible liar. Keep it simple. 'I don't know man.' Okay?"

"Yes Staff Sergeant Shaw." Chris answered in monotone. Meanwhile, more and more folks are filing out of the room. I make my way over to where Chris and Holly are now standing.

Holly leaned over to him and nudged him with her shoulder, "You know being a good liar isn't a great thing Chris." He grinned at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"Down boy. She's mine." I walked up to her and shot him a stare just on principle.

"Believe me I know. I still owe Traci money."

"Oh you do? Nash! What is this about Chris owing you money?" I call over to her where she's standing with Izzy. Traci gets this unreadable look on her face and I have a feeling I'm about regret this. Then the moment passes.

"No idea what you're talking about." Traci replies and shrugs back at me but then pointedly looks at Izzy behind her back and then to Holly. I barely nod calling an unspoken truce for the time being.

Holly, however, is beet red. I lean over to her and whisper into her ear. "Whatever happened to I don't care who knows that I'm sleeping with…"

"Gail!" She whispers loudly. "Not here. Okay? Not here."

"Are you ashamed of me Lunchbox?"

"You know I'm not. I'd just rather not everyone in 15 know exactly how much or where it is that we do what we do."

"15 or your sister? Because I'm pretty sure she knows since she's been in your spare room since Monday." Holly is about to respond but stops as she sees Izzy approaching.

Izzy walks up and says, "Little Sister, Epstein tells me that you're a sex-athlete, that you and Peck here had a sexathon at his apartment. Congratulations! I didn't know you had it in you."

I pull out my Taser. Dov is across the room. He holds up his hands and begins to back out of the room, "Gail! Gail! Let's be reasonable. Think of the paperwork!"

"Oliver?" I look at him.

"Just this once. We'll call it refresher training." Oliver replies with a smile. Dov flees the room and I don't run unless I have to.

"Ah well." I say and look back at everyone. They are laughing like idiots, even Holly. "Losers. You could at least have helped me catch him." Impossibly, they laugh harder.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Isabelle**

For the first time since I got the request 'to assist with helping the Toronto PD find out who was threatening one of their forensic pathologists, a Dr. Stewart' I feel like we're making progress. All I have to do is figure out a way for the Bratva to withdraw their protection from the Petroviches. If they do that, then we just have to figure out who the florist is. There will be an end to this which is infinitely more appealing that an endless string of hit-men, with unlimited resources, coming after my sister.

I'm standing outside the locker room waiting on Gail. Holly went back to the morgue with McNally to get some case files she was going to work on tonight. McNally and another squad will escort Holly home and McNally will wait with her until we get there. Knowing who is after Holly isn't exactly comforting. She's still in a great deal of danger and I'm grateful that the cops of 15 are being so vigilant. Gail comes out dressed in a black sweater, blue jeans and combat boots, and we walk outside. Neither of us talking which is fine by me. It's been a hell of a day.

A movement seems to catch her eye. She shoves me back and steps in front of me in one motion. "Gun! Get down!" Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Illya Petrovich himself pointing a gun at Gail and firing. Once. Twice. Three times.

She falls back and lands hard on the pavement hitting her head. A squad car pulls into the parking lot at that moment distracting Petrovich momentarily, and I scramble to pull Gail behind a truck. Leaning against the wheel, I search frantically through my purse for the walkie-talkie Steve Peck gave me 'just in case.' "Shots fired. Shots fired. Northwest Corner 15 Division parking lot. Officer down. Repeat officer down. Assailant is Illya Petrovich. He has a handgun. Not sure of make and model. We have taken cover behind a black Ford F150"

People come piling out of the station and the gunfire begins in earnest. I'm holding Gail to me but I haven't had a chance to check her out yet. Soon our position is surrounded. Sam Swarek makes it to us first. "Good to see you Sam." I say and smile.

He shrugs, "I had to come. This is my truck. If anyone is going to shoot it, it's going to be me." Then to his walkie-talkie "I'm in position behind my truck with Thompson and Peck. Need an ETA on that bus if someone has it."

Oliver is next to arrive. As I move Gail onto the ground, I say, "Thought you were a desk jockey."

"What? And let you and Swarek have all the fun? Not a chance. How's Peck?"

"Just getting a chance to look at her now." I pull her sweater up and exhale in relief. "Good girl." I turn to Oliver. "She was wearing her vest. All three bullets are visible. Her pulse is strong. She hit her head when she fell which is why she's out I think. When we get him secured, we can check her out more but we're still too exposed here."

I see the relief wash over his face and then Swarek's. "Sounds like a plan. Sammy you got any good ideas here?"

Sam speaks into his walkie-talkie, "Collins do you have a visual on the shooter?"

"Negative, sir."

"Does anyone have eyes on the shooter?"

"This is Epstein. I do. He's crouched behind a late model maroon Camry. Closest officers with visual are Diaz and myself at the north end and Nash and Steve at the south end. The Camry is on the other side of Sam's truck. There's also a white Chevy Malibu on the other side of the Camry. He's trying to work his way around the Camry to get to you on the other side of the truck. Collins will have a shot if he makes a move toward the truck."

I pick up my walkie-talkie. "Collins. If you get the shot, we need him alive if possible." I say and release the button. Another volley of gunfire erupts. "Jesus! How much ammo did this guy bring?"

"Evidently enough to keep us busy for a while" Sam replies.

"Shooter is moving. Repeat shooter is moving toward the truck!" I hear Epstein relay. I hear a shot and then over the radio "Diaz, Nash, move in now!" It's only a few moments but it feels like forever. "Subject secured. We're going to need EMTs for him as well. He's alive."

I turn my attention to Gail. "Gail! Gail! Can you hear me? You idiot! Why did you do that? Gail!" She sputters and coughs as she comes to. "Did you hear me? Why the hell did you do that? I'm not Holly!"

She looks at me with disdain. "Duh. But _he_ didn't know that!"

"So you gave him a closer target?"

"I was wearing a vest." She purses her lips. "But honestly if I'd known it was going to hurt this much I might not have done it. Fuck, this hurts." She looks around and sees Oliver. "Ollie, make sure they give me the good drugs. Help me get this thing off. I feel like I'm smothering."

"Whatever you want Peck." He helps her out of the sweater and vest and she takes in a less shallow breath. She's wearing a black form fitting t-shirt under the vest.

"Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?" I ask.

"Nah. I'm fine. Oh, and can we not tell Holly?" she asks.

"I'm down with that. I'm not taking the fall for this." I say solemnly. At that point a squad car comes screeching into the parking lot and before it's fully stopped, I see my sister leap out of the passenger side. McNally's radio. Of course, they got a blow by blow over the radio. "You're on your own Peck."

Gail raises her head to see my sister running toward us. "I took a bullet for you Stewart. Three bullets. That used to mean something. There's a code."

"You've never seen Holly really mad have you? I'd rather take my chances with Mr. Petrovich."

Holly looks at me as she approaches. I know what she wants to hear. "He's in custody. Gail was wearing her vest under her sweater. All three bullets were visible. The EMTs are on their way." I pause and then remember. "Oh, and she hit her head when she went down. She was out for a minute. It doesn't seem to have impaired her sparkling personality though." Gail flips me off.

"Baby, let me look." Holly crouches down next to Gail and pulls up the black t-shirt carefully. She's already beginning to bruise. She gingerly trails her fingers over Gail's abdomen and up her rib cage.

"Fuuuck!"

"Baby, I'm sorry. How bad does it hurt on a scale of one to ten?"

"Shit. I thought that was foreplay. I got excited." Gail deadpans. Sam and I snort. Oliver barely manages not to laugh. Holly shoots both Sam and me death glares. "Isabelle!" She sounds like our mother. I start laughing harder. This makes Sam and even Oliver laugh. "Go! Find out what's taking the EMTs so long." We walk away, Sam talking to dispatch over his radio.

**Holly**

"Now that the peanut gallery is gone and you don't have to play big bad cop, how much does it hurt?"

"It's about a seven."

"Okay. You probably have a few broken ribs. How's your breathing? Is it getting easier or harder to breathe or is it staying the same?"

"Same."

"What about your vision? Seeing double? Does your head hurt?"

"Holly, calm down. I'm fine. No double-vision. My hard head had to come in handy at some point." She smiles at me.

"Okay." I just look at her again. She's alive. She's going to be okay. That had to be the worst fifteen minutes of my life. First, hearing Izzy's voice over McNally's radio in my lab, hearing that Gail had been shot, and that they were trapped by a shooter who wanted me dead. I start to cry.

"Holly, don't cry. I can't stand it when you cry. You know that."

"I'll cry if I want to cry! You and Izzy were almost killed tonight!" I'm saved from further embarrassment by the arrival of the EMTs from the closest fire station. I give them the information that I have from my cursory exam of Gail and Steve walks up.

"You okay?" He asks me.

"No. You?"

"Not really." Then he turns his attention to Gail who's started to bristle a bit under the attention of the two EMTs. "Abigail, let the nice folks do their jobs."

"Steven, bite me." She replies.

"Gail, let them work on you or I'll call Mom."

"You wouldn't dare." She says and his response is a look. "Fine. Fine." She turns to the EMTs and says, "Do your worst!" in a fake British accent that sounds vaguely of pirates. The female EMT manages to stifle a snicker and continues to examine her before they move her to the gurney.

"So, I've seen you around…" I hear the female EMT, I can just barely read her last name off the front of her jacket, Maclean, begins with Gail. "…I know now's not the best time, but do you want to maybe go out for coffee sometime?"

Gail smirks and looks over at me. I roll my eyes. She points to me. "See the brunette over there. She's my girlfriend."

"Oh. Sorry."

"S'okay."

"I'm going to give you something for the pain." I see Maclean push something into the IV line that they've put in Gail's arm. Like always, the pain medication hits my baby hard but her alcohol tolerance means that she stays awake but has no filter. No filter whatsoever.

"Yeah, like I said don't be sorry. I get hit on by women a lot. Always have, but I didn't know what I was missing until I met my nerd over there. Hey, Lunchbox!" She calls over to me, "you don't have terrible handwriting and you should."

I walk over and she holds out her hand for me to take. "Why should I have terrible handwriting Honey?"

"Because you're a lesbian doctor. It's a double whammy." She says completely seriously. I just nod like I understand what she's talking about.

Maclean addresses me, "I gave her some morphine for the pain. I think you were right the ribs are broken, and we'll get her to the ER so that they can make sure she's not in danger of puncturing a lung or has a concussion. If they need to, they can give her something to reverse the pain meds to examine her but she was in a lot of pain, So…"

"Thank you."

She nods at me and then says, "Also, I'm sorry about…"

"No need. It just means you have excellent taste in women. Can I ride along?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Hey Mac! That's what they call you, isn't it?" Gail addresses Maclean.

"Yeah. That's what they call me." She replies.

"Hose monkeys. No originality. What's your first name?"

"Mackenzie" she smiles at Gail.

"Mac, Mac? Did your parents hate you?"

"Gail!" I say.

"It's okay. I've wondered that myself." Mac replies.

"This one here has a weird name too."

"Gail."

"Her mom was hopped up on drugs, kinda like me now. Holly, should I pick out our kids names now? It can be like a family tradition."

"Gail, we don't have children and you've skipped some steps." I smile at her unable to help myself.

"Whatever. You're going to marry me and we're gonna have babies or something. I like the name Sebastian. We can call him Bash. If it's a girl, Edwina and we can call her Eddie. I've always thought Eddie would be a cool name for a girl. My great grandmother's name was Eddie." Gail continues. I turn around to see that Steve is filming this with his phone. Gail then turns to Mac again and says, "You know if you weren't a hose monkey, and I wasn't with Holly here, I'd probably go out with you. You're pretty." Mac looks over at me decidedly uncomfortable. "But I am going out with her, and she's like the best sex I've ever had. Like mind-blowing sex." I feel my face flush scarlet. "She has this thing that she does with her tongue…mfffh." I kiss her.

"Gail." I say when I stop.

"Yeah?" She looks at me dreamily.

"Stop talking."

"Okay."

**A/N - I was going to end this chapter right after Gail got shot but I thought that y'all would come after me with pitchforks and torches so it took a little longer. I hope you enjoyed it. I still love reviews. As Traci Nash would say "Keep 'em comin'"**


	9. Chapter 9

**Holly**

I ride with her in the ambulance to the hospital. My cop hates hospitals, even with the pain meds, so I continue to hold her hand, and tell her that I need to be there, and she needs to hold my hand to make me feel better. After a few pointed questions from me, the resident gives way to the attending trauma physician in the ER. What's the use in being a science nerd extraordinaire if you can't use your powers to make sure the people you love get the best care available? Gail has a battery of tests, which confirm what I thought, no concussion, broken ribs and also reveal no internal bleeding aside from the huge hematomas that are already visible on her chest and abdomen. I talk them out of keeping her for observation for 24 hours knowing that the less time she spends in the hospital the better it will be for all of us. We're just waiting for them to discharge her when she speaks.

"Holly, is this the same room you were in when you had your concussion?"

"I'm not sure, Honey. My memory of that day is still pretty foggy."

"I was so, so scared that day. You didn't remember me." She says and looks dejected.

"I know. I'm sorry, but I know exactly who you are now." I smile down at her.

"I was afraid that day that I wasn't important enough to remember."

"Gail," I say as I drop her hand and take her head in my hands. "You are the most important person to me. The most important, and tonight…tonight you scared me out of years of my life. Years. I will not be okay if something happens to you."

"I couldn't let him hurt her, Holly. She didn't do anything wrong, and she's your sister."

"I know Honey, and impossibly, it made me love you more, but don't do it again okay?"

"Okay." She says as she reaches up with her right hand and clasps my left one briefly. Then she lays back in the bed and closes her eyes. The pain meds, finally, taking over.

I leave her momentarily to go out and compose myself. Then I call Oliver to give him an update on Gail's condition. Oliver promises to brief the others and tells me that Izzy is with Illya Petrovich at the hospital, along with Sam, Andy and Steve. I call Izzy. She answers almost immediately. "How's Gail?"

"She'll be fine. I'm about to take her home."

"Good…What's that Andy? Right. Andy is going to come over and escort you home. We're leaving your protection in place until we sort all this out. The squad and undercover van should still be outside your place. I'll check with Oliver to make sure, but I'm going to be stuck here with this for a while yet."

"Okay. You have a key. Just text me when you're coming in so I'll know."

"Sure thing. What room are you in?"

"ER bed 12."

"I'll send Andy over."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

We get Gail home with a minimum of fuss. She's ensconced on the couch in what I like to call her nest. She has blankets and pillows and is playing a video game surprisingly well considering she's still high as a kite.

"I was expecting that to be harder." McNally says to me.

"You just have to know how to handle her."

"Yeah, that only works if it's you handling her. She hates everyone else."

"That's not true."

"Oh, yes it is." Andy replies and then I hear Gail in the living room begin to sing the chorus to _Hello Ma Baby_. Andy is momentarily distracted and then comments, "She sang this in the hospital room last time, after she freaked out over a stuffed elephant."

"There really was an elephant?"

"A little pink stuffed one, yeah."

"Good to know. She talked about it when I took care of her that night. For a bit, I thought she was speaking metaphorically about our relationship at the time, and then I thought she just hallucinated it. It actually makes me feel better to know that there really was one." I change topics. "She takes requests you know."

"What?"

"Watch" and I begin to sing loudly enough for Gail to hear me.

"_I get too hungry for dinner at eight…" _she hears and immediately begins to sing with me at first and then I stop to listen to her because I, not so secretly, love her voice. I only get to hear it when she's high, very drunk, or in the shower and thinks I can't hear her.

"_I like the theater but never come late_

_I never bother with people I hate_

_That's why the lady is a tramp_

_I don't like crapgames with Barons and Earls_

_Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls_

_Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls_

_That's why the lady is a tramp_

"Holly! Holly! I'm a tramp. I'm not a bitch, I'm a tramp! It's like they wrote the song for me."

"I know Honey. Go back and play your game now. I don't want you to hurt your ribs. Are you hungry yet?"

"Nah, my stomach still feels kinda funny" and with that she turns back to her game.

"You have a really nice voice Holly." McNally says to me.

"Not really. I love Gail's voice though, but she'll never sing in front of me unless she's drunk or like this."

"They have karaoke at the Penny sometimes and I've heard her sing. She does have a good voice but usually she has to be pretty drunk. She likes 70s soul."

"_Let's Get It On_ by Marvin Gaye?" I ask. McNally nods. "I may have heard that one a time or two." I smile at the memories.

"When you guys were broken up she sang Al Green's "_Let's Stay Together"_ and then followed it up with his _How Do You Mend a Broken Heart _one night at karaoke. Traci recorded them on her phone. I think she was going to send it to you if the two of you didn't work it out soon. Bobby the bartender asked us to take her home because she was depressing everyone. Chris had to carry her out over his shoulder."

"I didn't know that."

"I've never seen anyone affect her the way you do. With Gail, I mean…I know I hurt her with the whole Nick thing, but other than that day at the hospital, she's never let me see it. Chris broke up with her because Dov had a crush on her and then he was still friends with Dov. That's probably one of the worst things Chris has ever done, and you'd never know it bothered her at all. It's like…like…she's got this ice over her, like she's a lake, and everything on the surface is calm and smooth...Frozen. We don't see anything else. But with you, with you, I saw the ice melt and crack. Then you were gone and she was…sort of…lost…I guess. Does that make sense?"

I look over at Gail on the couch, "Perfect sense. I was lost without her." My thoughts race back to that first meeting, to the first stolen kiss in the cloak room, to that mind-numbing kiss in the interrogation room, and finally to tonight and the bone deep fear. I continue, "I've never met anyone who knocked me off my feet like Gail did. I'm fairly level-headed. I like facts and evidence. Things are pretty much linear for me. But with Gail, it was like I was tumbling out of control from the moment we met. She barreled into my life and through my walls demanding entrance and I had no choice but to surrender."

Andy just smiles at me and says, "Yeah, I think I know what that feels like. Even when you don't want to, even when someone else makes more sense. But in the end, you'll be happier if you just give in."

"Yes. That." I point at her.

"Sam and I have done this dance for years now. You both seem to be on the same page at least. I think we finally may have our shit together but I'm a once bitten, twice shy kinda girl."

"He lights up when you walk into a room. His whole face transforms. Everyone sees it, Andy."

"Gail, is happy around you. Actually, visibly, happy. It kinda freaks us all out honestly. I'm pretty sure I never saw Gail happy until you."

"That can't be true." I say as my heart constricts and look over at Gail on the couch.

"It is."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Andy helped me get Gail up the stairs and I have just gotten her settled into bed when Steve and Izzy arrive. I go downstairs and can't help but wrap Izzy up in a hug. I start to cry again.

"Hey, no need for that Little Sister." She says as she hugs me back.

"Shut up. You and Gail both act like I'm not allowed to cry." I say as I back away and wipe my eyes. "If anything had happened to either of you, it would have been my fault."

"That's not true." Steve pipes up. "Holly, you're not that stupid. You were doing your job. What if Petrovich had come after me? I worked that case with you. Would it have been my fault if he went after Gail? Or Traci? Or Leo?"

"No, of course not." I say.

"Then I believe you've admitted your initial logic is faulty and I'm right. I love being right." He smiles that Peck smile at me. I know it well. It's Gail's. "Does Gail make you abide by Peck rules?"

"Only sometimes." I say and swat him lightly in the stomach. He just waits. "Fine. _You_ are right. You a_re_ right. You are _right_." I say as Andy and Izzy look on amused.

Izzy looks between the two of us an unspoken question in her eyes, and I respond, "Peck rules are if you prove someone wrong the other party has to admit three times that you are right putting emphasis on a different word each time."

"Wow. Stewart rules are way less complicated. And a little less mean-spirited." She laughs a bit and then asks, "Holls, you have any bourbon? I really could use something. I had to call Tori on the way over here. Tell her what happened."

"What did you tell her?" I ask knowing that Izzy would have downplayed any danger to her wife.

"I told her that your girlfriend has the reflexes of a cat and saved my life."

"Really?" Andy asks before I have the chance to comment that cat reflexes would be what I'd expect from the self-proclaimed cat. "You told her what happened? Was she okay with it? It has to be hard not being in the line and not understanding the risks." Andy finishes as I walk to the liquor cabinet and get out an unopened bottle of bourbon.

Izzy speaks while I'm opening it, "I honestly didn't intend to say any of it. It all just came tumbling out. I'm more used to being behind the scenes, but there have been times in my career that I've had to go into the field and take risks, but I still don't know how the hell she saw him. I didn't see anything, and I thought I was looking. She saved my life. I know she did. She never hesitated. She shoved me back and got between me and him. It was…it was…"

"The bravest, stupidest thing you've ever seen in your life?" I say as I'm getting glasses out of the cabinet.

"Yes."

"Yeah. That happened to me a few weeks ago." Izzy looks at me. "Iz, it's a story for another time." She acquiesces knowing that I will tell her eventually.

She changes topics, "Oh and Tori is going to send Gail something as a 'Thank You' so you should thank me that I talked her out of any interior decorations. Don't think I haven't noticed that godawful vase isn't here anymore."

I'm working on getting ice into glasses for all of us so I don't respond until I'm pouring everyone a drink. "I threw my phone across the room a few weeks ago because of a message from Melissa and unfortunately the vase was a casualty of war." I smirk.

"A likely story." Izzy retorts and then holds her glass up, "To Gail Peck the bravest, stupidest police officer I know!" We all hold up our glasses and drink.

I notice that Steve looks a little sad, even for Steve, who usually wears the same look of disinterest on his face that Gail does. "Steve, what is it?" I ask.

"I know how she saw him…my mom" He pauses seems to gather himself and then continues more quietly, staring at my kitchen countertop, "my mom…she used to play this game with us when we were too little to really understand it. She called it 'Ambush.' She'd jump out at us when we were playing. Coming in from school. Whatever we were doing. Anytime we might not be paying attention to our surroundings. As we got older the consequences got higher. We'd lose some allowance, privileges, whatever. Gail began to resent it because she saw how truly fucked up it was. But not because she wasn't good at it. That was the thing that set Mom off the most. Gail _always,_ I mean _always won._ When she stopped participating, it drove Mom over the edge. That's when she started riding Gail about her untapped potential and all that bullshit. She kept pushing her and pushing her hoping that it would drive her and all it ended up doing was making Gail feel like she couldn't do anything right.

He looks up and continues, "Izzy, tonight, Elaine Peck saved your life by proxy because since the age of nine, Gail could assess a situation and determine the most likely attack points. Weaknesses in position defenses. Goddammit!" He yells as he slams his glass down on the counter. I'm surprised it doesn't shatter. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry everyone." He looks at me. I just walk up to him and hug him.

"My Dad just taught me how to pick a lock on my twelfth birthday." Andy says and then, "well that and how to drink the entire division under the table. Steve, at least your parents were never disgraced."

I release him from my hug. He replies, "I know. We've all got our own sad stories. I just wish my mother could communicate how truly remarkable Gail is, to Gail. When she says stuff, it comes out as criticism. She really is proud of Gail. She just has no idea how to show Gail that, and with her pushing all the time, it makes Gail pull back into that shell that she carries around with her like some sort of goddamn human turtle."

"You know, I've never had the pleasure of meeting the 'Emperor'." I use Gail's term for her mother. "Gail has kept her far away from me. I mean, I've seen her from a distance, and of course, I know her reputation, but I've never met her. I always wondered if she was as bad as Gail said she was."

"Gail told her if she interfered with your relationship, or you, that she'd be a beat cop for the rest of her life. She might even quit the force." Steve replies.

"She didn't."

"She did. First Peck dinner after the two of you started dating and then again after the break up or whatever that was…I never did get a straight story from Gail. Believe me, Mom knows about you. You're the first thing Gail has ever stood up for to Mom in her entire life. Mom's dying to meet you. She says you must be pretty special if Gail thinks you are."

As if she was conjured by the mere mention of herself, Steve's cell phone rings. He looks down and says, "It's Mom." He walks off to take it in the living room.

"That was freaky." Izzy says to me.

"Gail would say evil never sleeps. Want another drink?" I ask both Izzy and Andy.

"Hell yes." Izzy replies.

"I better not. I'm on duty." Andy says solemnly.

"I thought everything was taken care of." I say and then see their expressions like I'm a slow child. "I thought you just meant tonight until you were finished at the hospital. You mean I'm still going to be guarded like a prisoner?" I almost shriek.

"Holls, we still don't know who was sending the flowers. We know Petrovich hired Bolotnikov and why, but we still don't know who was actually sending the flowers. Until then, you have to remain in protective custody." Izzy reaches out and puts her hand on my back and rubs up and down. It's something our mother would do to comfort us. It hits me full force then, the difference in growing up Peck and growing up Stewart. My mother is the warmest, most loving person I've ever met. She made me feel like I could do anything and I know Izzy felt the same way. I look at Izzy and we share a knowing look. I know she knows exactly what I'm thinking. That it's a wonder Gail turned out like she did. "She's amazing Holls. She really is amazing. We'll all get through this together."

Steve walks back into the kitchen. "Mom says hello and wants me to pass along she's glad everyone is okay. She says not to worry, she'll approve any overtime needed to make sure you stay protected, Holly."

"Does she want to come and see Gail?" I ask.

"I don't think so. She pumped me for information on her condition though. You know, she only came and saw Gail once at the hospital when they got her back from…_him_. Frank told me about it. She came by when Gail was sedated. He said he'd never seen her cry before."

"Gail doesn't know that, does she?" Andy asks.

"Not unless Frank told her which I doubt he would. He was pretty mad that she didn't come back." Steve replies and then continues, "Mom loves her she just has no idea how to show it. And, I also think that Mom's presence would aggravate Gail more than it would help her at this point. Mom said on the phone that she was glad that 'Gail stood up to the task just like she knew she would.'" We wait for him to explain it. "It means she's proud of Gail but it's no less than what she expected from her."

I can't listen to it anymore. So I change the subject. "What are you going to do with your 'High Gail' footage Steve?"

"I may sell it on the black market." He smiles back at me. "'Bash?' Really?"

"It has a nice ring to it. You have to admit it." I laugh. "I'm not sure about a girl named Eddie though. Was your grandmother's name Eddie? Really?"

"Great-Grandmother and yes. It was. When her husband was mad at her, the family story was that he'd call her 'Winnie' for Edwina rather than her preferred 'Eddie.' Actually, I've seen pictures of her, and Gail looks remarkably like her. Her full name was Edwina Abigail. Gail is named after her."

"Wait. Wait. Gail's name is Edwina Abigail?" I can't stop from asking.

"Oh no. Just the Abigail part. Her middle name is my mother's maiden name, Grace. Abigail Grace Peck."

"Well damn. That's beautiful."

"You sound surprised, Holly." Steve says to me.

"She's just jealous. Our mom named us while she was high and we have weird Christmas names." Izzy responds.

Before she can say anything else, I say, "Just trust us."

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Steve left shortly after the name discussion. We all got ready for bed. I found some shorts and a tank top for Andy. Izzy and Andy ended up in the guest room together. Andy had offered to sleep on the couch but that was followed by Izzy's crass offhanded remark, I suppose, to make Andy feel more comfortable, "McNally, my wife can remove my liver with a laser and robot with very little effort. Believe me, you're safe."

"Izzy, now you've just made her afraid of Tori. Andy, Tori isn't that scary. I promise. But Izzy is very devoted to her. Izzy's just a lot like Gail. She doesn't like to talk about her feelings."

"A laser and a robot?" Andy just asks.

"It's called a Da Vinci and they wouldn't really do a liver removal with it. It's for more minimally invasive surgeries…" I realize that neither of them really care. "Whatever. I'm going to bed."

Hours later, I'm awakened by the sound of Gail screaming. I sit up and realize she's tangled in the sheets. Before I can even process it, Izzy and Andy come running into the bedroom. I manage to turn on my bedside light. Andy has her gun. Izzy is wearing Scooby Doo pajamas.

"Gail, Gail!" I say. She looks at me and I realize she doesn't see me. I know what to look for now. "Iz, she has PTSD and night terrors. This happened last time she was on pain meds. I was hoping another pain med wouldn't affect her the same way." Gail looks like a wild animal that's trapped.

"What's the PTSD from?" Izzy asks.

"Does it really matter now? If she's not there I don't want to bring it up." I keep my eyes on Gail who's thrashing in the sheet. I reach out to her, "Honey, it's me. It's Holly. You're safe."

"What have you done with her?! You bastard!" She screams at me. I move my hands back so I don't freak her out any more. Fanfreakingtastic. She has no idea who I am. "Where's Holly?! I have to find Holly!"

"Peck! Give me a sitrep!" Andy barks at her and it works.

"Perik has Holly, McNally. Perik has her. I think the Russians are in it too. I have to find her. I'm hurt and I have to find her. You have to help me find her! Help get me untied. We have to go find her!"

"Okay. Gail. I'm going to get you untangled. Okay? But Holly is fine. She's right there. She's right there. You did your job. Everyone is fine. You did your job." McNally says soothingly as she untwists the sheet from around Gail.

Gail looks at me then and sees me. "Holly! Holly, I was so scared."

"It's alright Baby. Everything is alright." I open my arms and she moves into me and hugs me tightly. She breathes in for a moment or two and then just as soon as it happened she's out like a light again. I look up at Andy and Izzy. "Go down to the kitchen Iz. Make us some tea. I'll be down in a minute." They walk out of the bedroom and I stay with Gail for a few more minutes to settle myself more than anything. I know she won't remember. I know that this will be the only one she'll have tonight. She never has more than one a night. I leave the bedside light on in case she does wake while I'm downstairs though.

When I get to the kitchen, Izzy has made chamomile tea for the three of us. We sit there in silence. My heart rate finally returning to normal. I notice Andy's gun on the counter. She catches me looking at it.

"Sorry Holly, you want me to put it upstairs?"

"No. It's not safe for it to be upstairs with Gail." I sigh, and take a drink of my tea. I know that they're waiting. I begin, "Andy, can you tell Izzy the story about Perik? I only know what Gail told me. I've never read the reports, on purpose, but I think Izzy might be able to help her."

"Yeah, sure. Do you know anything about Ross Perik, Izzy?"

"Disgraced doctor turned serial murdering rapist cab driver? That Ross Perik?"

"Yeah that's him. Well, we obviously didn't know that it was him at first but we did have a victim type and Gail fit it. She volunteered for the duty. We thought we had arrested the right guy but we hadn't. Perik abducted Gail from my apartment that same night. She had texted Nick, who she was dating at the time, and was expecting him. Perik attacked her and about fifteen minutes later I walk in. Perik attacked me and drugged me but didn't take me. He just took Gail. I woke up the next morning on my floor." Andy says with, is that guilt? Sadness? I take another drink of my tea.

She's about to speak again when Izzy interrupts her, "One of your detectives died after an altercation with Perik but he planted his phone on him to save a female police officer. Oh my God. That was Gail?"

"Yeah. The detective was Jerry Barber. He was Traci's fiancé."

"Shit."

"Yeah. It messed us all up. Jerry's death messed us all up. He was Sam's best friend. We had the wake at the Penny. Traci read a letter out loud that Chris and Dov found in Jerry's desk. It was supposed to be his wedding speech. When Traci couldn't finish it, Gail finished it for her. Read it for her, held her hand and hugged her. Gail hates public speaking but she did it for Traci. It was one of the strongest things I've ever seen. It made me think at the time that Gail was just like that. She was just so strong that nothing touched her.

"Sam and I broke up because he blamed himself and me for Jerry's death. Traci has told me since that Gail blames herself. Shortly after Sam and I broke up, I left to go undercover with Nick, and Traci and Gail were left with the aftermath of it all. I think they got a lot closer during that time.

"Then last year, we had a Perik copycat…"

Izzy interrupts again, "The female police officer who was rescued became Perik's obsession. He had one of his apprentices abduct a girl so that they would send her in to talk to him."

"Yeah. That's right. Nick told me that Perik told Gail she'd never be good enough. She'd always be second choice. Perik made Gail tell him something she was ashamed of in exchange for information. That's when Nick found out she'd cheated on him because she suspected that Nick had feelings for me."

"But she got the information and that girl made it home to her family because of Gail." Izzy finishes.

"Yeah. She did." Andy replies.

"Holy Shit, Holls." Izzy murmurs. Then, "How often does this happen? How often does she have nightmares and night terrors?"

"What's a night terror?" Andy asks.

"She has a nightmare but her muscles aren't paralyzed in REM like they are normally. It means that whatever she dreams she acts out. I've read studies that sometimes seizure meds help with it but the night terrors only really happen if Gail has taken some sort of prescription pain med. Or at least she's only had night terrors twice with me, and both times she was on pain meds. I'd really rather not have her on an unnecessary medication."

"And the nightmares?" Izzy asks again.

I glance over at Andy who takes the hint. "Hey, I'll go upstairs and sit with Gail for a bit while the two of you talk."

"Thanks Andy." I reply. "Thanks also for helping out earlier. I wouldn't have thought of that."

She shrugs, "It used to work with my Dad when he was drunk. It's funny. The people that need your help the most, are the last ones to ask for it." With that, she turned and walked up the stairs.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

I wake up with Holly's hair in my face, I'm spooning her. I have my right arm over her waist. She smells different. She feels different. I cautiously open my eyes. I register that I'm in Holly's bed but this woman is not Holly. I slowly roll her toward me so that I can see her face.

"McNally!" I shoot up and across the room like I've been shot out of a canon. I take up a position on the opposite wall. "Tell me that this is some sort of alternate reality." I tilt my head back and close my eyes. "Wake up! Wake up!" I repeat to myself.

Izzy and Holly come running into the bedroom. Andy sits up in Holly's bed, her hair disheveled. Izzy speaks first. "Jesus, Gail. What is it?"

"I woke up and McNally…McNally was in Holly's bed with me." I say and rubbing my hands over my face trying to scrub away the shame.

"Honey, I know." Holly says. "We came in a few hours ago and you were spooning." She smirks at me, "I have to admit I was kinda jealous you let her be the little spoon. You were just so adorable. I was afraid to wake you up. I decided to let you both sleep." She finishes.

I put my hand over my eyes and rest my forehead against it wondering how much more embarrassing this morning is going to be. Sometimes, I let Holly be the little spoon! But no one can know that Gail Peck has ever, ever been the little spoon and now Holly has outed me to McNally and her sister! Deciding to deflect attention, I remove my hand and point at McNally. "You! Why were you in Holly's bed?"

"I…I…came up to sit with you last night and I must've fallen asleep." She looks over at Izzy and Holly.

"That's right." Holly says. "Andy, Izzy, why don't you go make us some coffee and I'll explain things to Gail? Oh and Iz if you are up to making breakfast, Gail's allergic to tomatoes and she hates eggs."

"Then we're going out for breakfast because I know you don't have any meat in this house." She retorts as they walk out of the bedroom.

I call out as she's walking away, "Nice jammies Izzy!"

"Fuck you, 'Little Spoon' Peck." She calls back.

"Goddammit."

Holly just laughs at me. "God you're so…"

"Holly, what…"

Holly sits down on the bed and motions for me to join her. I do. "You had a nightmare, Gail. It was a bad one. You screamed and Andy and Izzy ran in here. You didn't know who I was at first. You thought Perik had me and you said something about the Russians. You got twisted up in the sheet and thought you were tied up. Andy got you to calm down. After…after you went back to sleep, I had Andy tell Izzy about the Perik case. Then Andy came up here to sit with you while I talked to Izzy about your nightmares.

She reaches out to take my hand. "I'm sorry if that broke some sort of confidence, but she'd already seen it for herself. She's one of the best at what she does, and she deals with not only criminal profiling but also therapy for people who've been victims of violent crime."

"So I'm a victim." I jerk my hand away.

"No Honey. I didn't mean that. I don't think that. Izzy doesn't think that." She reaches out to me again but I don't allow it. I pull away again. "Honey, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. I've told you before, you constantly amaze me. Jesus, Gail, you saved my sister's life yesterday. 'Victim' is not a word I'd ever use to describe you. But you do hurt and I think Izzy can help. She'd actually really like to help. I think it would help her out after what you did for her yesterday." She looks over at me those beautiful brown eyes pleading with me.

I want to let down my walls. I really want to, but I can't. I hear my mother's voice in my head, 'Don't be weak, Gail.' I can't let myself be weak. I stand up. "No absolutely…shit! Shit! Fuck that hurts!" I feel suddenly like I've been kicked in the chest.

"Honey!" Holly springs up. "What is it? Is it your ribs?" I can only nod in response. "Okay. Probably the adrenaline from this morning kept you from feeling it earlier. Sit down. Let me look at you." She moves me to rest against the headboard with my legs stretched out and then examines me and I guess that my responses satisfy her, because she says, "It's the same as last night. You want another pain pill?" I shake my head no. "Honey, it doesn't make you weak to admit you're in pain. C'mon, I'll break it in half. It's not time-released so it should be okay. Please, I can't stand to see you in so much pain." She actually begins to tear up.

"Fine. You know I can't stand to see you cry. That's a low blow Holly."

She waits until I look her in the eye, "Gail, I love you beyond the point of all reason. I'm not above some emotional blackmail to keep you from hurting yourself unnecessarily." She walks into the bathroom and comes back with the pills and a bottle of water from the bedside table. She holds them out for me to take.

"Fine. There. Are you happy?" I practically snarl at her. I don't really know why other than she's letting me.

"Not really, but it's a start." She sits next to my knees. "Gail, please. Please, let Izzy help you. If not her, then let her recommend someone, or a specific therapy." She reaches out to hold my hand again. "You are so brave Honey. So brave. You've proven it time and time again. No one thinks you're not."

"McNally saw?" I say self-consciously.

"Yes Honey. She came in with Izzy when you screamed. She was the one who helped settle you. It wasn't me. You didn't recognize me. She treated you like a police officer and that's what reached you. She shouted at you saying, 'Peck give me a sitrep!'"

"Really? That worked?"

"Yeah, it did."

"Weird."

"I dunno. You're, what was it Izzy said you said the other day? 'A police officer to the bone'?"

"I didn't say that."

"Izzy said you did."

"Izzy is a big fat liar." I roll my eyes and only just manage not to stick out my tongue.

"You're so adorable. Such an adorable liar." She leans in and kisses me on the nose.

"I am a Peck. Pecks are _not _adorable. We've been over this previously. Keep up Stewart." I snap my fingers.

She puts those long fingers on either side of my jaw and strokes the skin there. I succeed in holding back a sigh but just barely. She looks into my eyes and pulls our faces together so that her breath whispers across my face. "Abigail Grace Peck, you are the most adorable creature and I'm so in love with you." She kisses me softly on the lips. I move to deepen the kiss and she pulls back. "Oh no, you don't. You're injured. I'm not going to be responsible for hurting you."

"Tease." I respond, and then it hits me. "You used my entire name. Steve is dead."

"Oh, don't be mean to him. He came over last night and was worried about you. He's really very sweet. He's a good big brother." She pauses a moment. "Your mom called him while he was here. He said, to pump him for information about you."

"How is the Emperor?"

"You'd have to ask Steve. I didn't speak to her. Evidently, you've ensured that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Steve said you'd forbidden her to speak to me." She says, looking at me, searching my face with those beautiful eyes. "I don't want to be a source of friction between you and your mother Gail. I can take care of myself."

"I know that Holly. God, I know that. It's just…She's just so…Elaine. I don't want anything to affect us and she will Holly, she will."

"How will she affect us?"

I put my closed fist to my mouth to try and put my answer into words. Holly likes words. "I'm not_ me_ around her. Or I'm more _me_. I dunno. But I don't like the me I am around her. She won't change how I feel about you but I'm afraid she'll change the way you feel about me."

"Honey, no one on earth, _especially_ your mother, can change the way I feel about you. Please believe me."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"You don't."

"I do."

Before we can finish our grade school discussion, Izzy knocks on the partially open bedroom door with her right hand while holding a basket in her left. "Hey, sorry to interrupt this intellectual banter you've got going but I have a delivery for Gail." Izzy must have seen the look on our faces because she quickly explains. She looks at Holly, "Tori has a friend here, Marlene, you remember her? You met her at that dinner maybe six months ago? Redhead. I introduced you." Holly shakes her head no. Izzy continues, "Doesn't matter now. Marlene makes gift baskets. Anyway, Tori sent Gail a gift basket. Marlene just dropped it off." Izzy walks to the bed and holds up the basket. I get a better look at it. It has small snack bags of cheese puffs and tiny bottles of tequila in it. And something else.

"What the hell?" I ask.

"There's a card." Izzy replies.

The card reads:

_Consider this a down payment for the debt I owe you. Flowers seemed tacky at this point, and a little birdie told me this might be more up your alley. You ever need anything, all you have to do is ask. Welcome to the funhouse that is the Stewart twins. My sympathies. PS – Share the peanut butter with the nerd. She loves it. Or don't. Up to you. Like I said, I owe you. – Tori_

I pick up the small jar and Holly's eyes track to it like a junkie looking for a fix. I move it back and forth and her eyes follow it unerringly. "Holly, you ok?"

"Huh? Yes Gail. I'm fine. What's that?"

"I think you know what it is considering you look like a meth head in a pharmacy full of cold medicine." I read the label. _Coconut Peanut Butter All Natural Organic._ I open it and look inside. The smell hits me. Huh. Different. Tentatively, put my forefinger on the edge and swipe a tiny bit onto it. I bring it to my lips, Holly staring at me the entire time. I taste it. OH. MY. GOD. I must have said it out loud because Izzy starts laughing.

"Holls, you're screwed. She likes it."

Holly's face scrunches up. "Gail, you don't even like coconut."

"I don't. But Jesus, what the hell is this? This is Amaaaziiing!" I singsong.

"It's organic peanut butter from Hawaii." Holly sighs. "It's my favorite."

"You like peanut butter?" I ask. I didn't know that.

"She loves it Gail. More than you love cheese puffs." Izzy starts laughing softly again.

"But the other night at the restaurant, you didn't have anything with peanut butter." I say. "It was all vegetables and healthy stuff."

Izzy just keeps smiling, watching Holly. Holly finally says, "I love peanut butter but I don't eat it very often."

"Why?"

"Because I can eat that entire jar in one sitting. I mean I _love_ it."

"So what would you do for it?" I wiggle my eyebrows.

Izzy says, "And that's my cue to leave" and walks out of the bedroom closing the door.

"What do you want?" Holly purrs at me and arches her eyebrow.

**A/N – Thank you for all the Favorites, Follows and Reviews. Please let me know what you think about the Peck family backstory. If you don't know the songs referenced may I recommend you give them a listen. I personally prefer the Ella Fitzgerald version of Lady is a Tramp. Also, the Peanut Butter is real and is OH. MY. GOD. AMAZING! Anybody ever seen Aliyah talk about peanut butter?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey folks,**

**Kinda nervous about this chapter. Let me know what you think good or bad. As always, thanks so much for the Reviews, Follows & Favorites. It makes me think you're still reading. **** All mistakes are mine. Rookie Blue is not.**

**Isabelle**

It's day 26 of the flower deliveries. Gail was shot one week ago today. Bed rest has done nothing to improve her mood or her worries about Holly. Luckily, we've convinced Holly that she should stay at home and take care of Gail. I've been heading to the morgue every day in Holly's place so that we can keep them safer. At least that's the plan. Both of them are unaware of this fact, and we've decided not to tell them.

When we hit two dozen flowers a day, I could feel everyone's morale take a big hit, including mine. So much so, that at this moment I'm in a corner booth in a bowling alley restaurant, in a not so nice area of Toronto, with Steve Peck and Traci Nash waiting on, I'm not sure what. I just agreed to come along hoping that this, whatever it was, would help somehow.

"Steve, why are we here and what is that smell?" I ask.

"Desperation?" He doesn't look up from his phone as he replies.

"Which question did you answer?" Traci asks him.

"Both" came his monotone reply while still looking at this phone.

"Steve," Traci just says and gets him to look up.

"Fine." He looks up from his phone. "I think it's grease from the fryer and we've asked for a meet. Wait, reverse that."

"So we're here because we've asked for a meet with whom?" Traci asks the question that I want answered.

At that moment, an attractive, older, red-headed woman dressed in black slacks and a royal blue shirt, which brings out the blue in her eyes, walks in and I catch Traci sit up straight, subconsciously I think. The newcomer looks at me for a long moment and then addresses Steve, "Steven, sitrep."

"According to my source, he should be here at any moment." Steve answers finally looking away from his phone.

"Good. She replies, slipping into the booth next to me. Then she says, "I'll take the lead from here. I want the three of you to remain silent unless you're spoken to. It's the customary way to do business. I am the unquestioned leader. Understand?"

"Yes mother." Steve replies.

_Holy Shit! This is Elaine Peck._ No wonder Traci sat up straight, she was subconsciously at attention. I don't have any time to ponder anything else because a group of older men enter the restaurant. One of them is wearing a Fedora, an honest to God, Fedora. There are 4 of them just like there are four of us. I can tell by body language and positioning that Fedora is the leader. He has almost jet-black hair from what I can see of it. He's broad shouldered and still fit. The other three look like movie villains, closely cropped hair, pock-marked faces, with steely eyes scanning the entire restaurant, looking for threats to their boss.

"Elaine!" Fedora walks over with his hand reaching out for her. His voice is deep and even with only hearing two syllables I can tell he has a very heavy eastern European accent.

"Dimitri!" She stands up and reaches for his hands and they do that weird air kissing thing. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! That cannot be Dimitri Ovechkin, head of the most ruthless arm of the Toronto Bratva. Mama Peck is making air kisses with him. Okay. Maybe Gail wasn't exaggerating about her mother when we spoke earlier this week talking about "Peckspectations" she really is this scary.

"It has been too long. It is unfortunate that our business separates us so. It is necessary, yes, but unfortunate." He says as they sit down at a table next to us. His guard dogs stay in background. I notice Traci has shifted in the booth so that she's facing Elaine and Dimitri's table rather than having her back to the bodyguards. This is that kind of meeting. Of course it is. No one trusts anyone. You'd think Steve could have mentioned that bringing a weapon tonight would be a good idea. Dimitri begins again, "So, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"I've come to make your day Dimitri. I've come to collect on the debt you owe me." Elaine smirks at him.

"The little lioness has come to collect! Excellent! We need vodka! Sergei! Get some vodka from the office! We will celebrate this!

"You have waited a long time for this 'kotyonok'." (I found out later this was Russian for 'kitten'. Someone called Elaine Peck 'kitten'! This makes Dimitri infinitely scarier now.)

"There was never anything worth the marker before." She responds.

"Good. You know the weight of the debt. This…" Dimitri pauses as Sergei returns with the vodka and glasses all around. He begins to pour it into low ball glasses. There's no ice, no mixer, just straight, room temperature vodka. Dimitri then says, "Everyone will drink to celebrate this."

I should have paid more attention when I was rushing that sorority in college. I know there's a trick to this. I pick up the glass that Sergei has placed in front of me and hold it up to my face like the others. "To your health!" Dimitri says and then drains his glass. I understand that it would be impolite, at best, not to do the same so I imitate him and drain mine. "Good. Good." He says as he looks around the room.

Elaine slowly reaches into her purse with her left hand only. "I have a gift for you Dimitri." She pulls out a small picture frame. I look over and it seems to be a newspaper article. He takes it and when he looks at it begins laughing.

"So, I think I know what will repay my debt but I want to hear it from you." Dimitri says and looks at Elaine.

"Dr. Holly Stewart has been targeted by Illya Petrovich through Damir Bolotnikov. I want the flowers to stop. I want the person or persons responsible for sending the flowers, and/or the plan to harm her, to be remanded to police custody, and I want your word that no harm will come to my family or Dr. Stewart's family by any member of your organization in this matter, including Illya Petrovich or his delegates."

"See. This is good. You understand the debt. You do not overstep but you do not underestimate. You are very good at the…the…politics? Is right word, yes?"

"Most people would say that I'm good at politics yes." She smiles at him.

Dimitri Ovechkin looks at me then and says, "You are not Holly Stewart." I look at Elaine and she nods.

"I am not." I say.

"Dr. Thompson, you are very brave to be your sister's decoy but I wonder if your wife would appreciate it if she knew. You are about to be parents for the first time. It changes you. You need not be so reckless. Life is precious." I feel a surge of anger toward him. He shouldn't know this. He shouldn't know about Tori about our babies. The anger must have shown on my face because then he says, "Such fire! This is good. Very good. You must never lose this fire to protect your family!"

Elaine turns his attention toward her, "I consider Dr. Thompson and her wife part of my family now, Dimitri, as I do _all_ of Dr. Stewart's family."

"Of course Kotyonok. Of course." He looks at me again. "Do you want to know what I owe her? Why you are here?" I look over at Elaine again. Again she nods. In turn, I nod at him.

"Kotoyonok here was a…a…what is the word?"

"'Beat cop' is what you're looking for, I believe." Elaine says.

"'Beat cop' yes. She was a beat cop on patrol. I had some business. Some, maybe not so nice, business in an alley on her 'beat'. Before we could finish, a cat knocks off the trash can lids and she comes to investigate. The men on the other side of the alley had no honor. They see this as a chance to conclude our business without payment. As she walks into the alley, they begin shooting at me. My lioness stands in front of me taking the bullet meant for me. When was this Kotoyonk? How long? Do you know?"

"Steve was three. I remember because he didn't understand why I couldn't pick him up." Elaine says sadly. I look over at Steve who has the most incredulous look on his face. Evidently, the fact that his mother saved the life of the Bratva's enforcer is news to him also.

"Yes. You understand. My son is your son's age. I remember coming home to him that night. I told him that a 'lioness' saved my life. Family is important. Illya has corrupted this. What he has done for Anton is not to save his family but to damn another. It has no honor. Anton was killing 'little girls' and Dr. Stewart was not targeting him. She was only doing her job. Her death does not stop him from going to jail. It is revenge. It is not honor.

"I will do this for you Kotoyonk. I will send word by my son Roman. His son plays with Detective Nash's son…Leo…I believe it is? On his hockey team. Roman says that Leo is quite a gifted player." I see the same look on Traci's face that must have been on mine earlier.

"Dimitri, you know that Traci and Leo are family to me." Elaine smiles at him, again, returning his focus from us to her.

"Of course. Of course. My grandson Mikhail…Roman's wife spells it and says it 'Michael' but I prefer Russian name. My grandson plays hockey quite well also. When this is done, I will send word through Roman. He will ask Steve if Leo is his son. When this happens, everything will be done. Will this be satisfactory?"

"Yes." Elaine answers simply.

"Good. Now we drink more vodka!" Dimitri says and Sergei pours another shot so big it would scare a Moscow native. I have no idea how I'm going to get this down but I don't want to do anything to insult him. Once more, I drink matching Dimitri. Funny how after the second glass, Vodka doesn't taste as much like rubbing alcohol.

We end up doing one last shot/drink thingy and I'm definitely not sober by the time we finish with Dimitri and his crew. They exit first and leave us there to wait for an appropriate time to leave. Obviously, the Superintendent of the Toronto police force cannot be seen with the strong arm of the Bratva. It would be dangerous for them both.

"That was intense." Traci says after they leave.

"Dimitri is intense. He always has been. I think he only does it on purpose part of the time. I don't want either of you to worry about your families. It does not make sense for him to go after them in any way. I know that doesn't help that pit in your stomach, but it's true. He is, in his world, a man of honor, and he values family above all else." Elaine responds and then orders coffee and donuts for us all.

Once the waitress delivers the donuts, Elaine begins again, "Oddly, I've found that sugar and caffeine are some of the best combatants to vodka. But, honestly, that just may work for you Steve. I can have two patrol officers dropped off to drive us home if need be."

"Mom, why is tonight the first time I've ever heard this story?"

"About vodka, Steven? I didn't want to give you the key to your DNA." She grins at him. He just looks at her. She sighs and then says, "I didn't do anything but my job. You were so little. I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily. I was wearing my vest anyway. I'm sure that Gail's injuries now are more extensive than mine were. Petrovich was much closer to her than the Santorini brothers were to me."

"I knew about Uncle Barry." Steve replies.

"That, I had no control over. You were a few years older. You were only three when I was shot. When Barry died, you were ten and Gail was six. I couldn't insulate you like I wanted to then. But when I was shot, I could control the message or non-message to you."

"We started playing 'ambush' after Uncle Barry died." Steve says quietly.

"That's right." She responds and looks him in the eye. Something passes between the two of them, an understanding, he nods at her and the room changes somewhat. I have an idea that he's forgiven her. I wonder if he will pass this knowledge along to Gail. Elaine was not a monster. Elaine was afraid for her children. She was trying to prepare them. It was done clumsily, but if they were going to follow in their parents footsteps, she wanted them as prepared as they could be.

We finish our impromptu meal in relative silence until Elaine turns to me as we're all about to leave. "Dr. Thompson, you and your sister are identical. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"I've seen her pictures of course, but it's something else entirely to have a life-size representation. You really are quite stunning. At least Gail is finally showing some good taste. Once this is all over we should have a Peck family dinner to celebrate. You and your wife are invited of course."

"Mom." Steve says warningly.

"Steven, I've just made a deal with the Bratva to ensure her lover's safety. Gail can come to dinner and bring Dr. Stewart. It's actually, the least she can do, the very least." Elaine says to him as he nods his head in defeat.

She then turns to me, "Dr. Thompson, what do you think?" A lesser person would have withered and crumbled under her appraisal. I was about to be that person, and then another thought occurred to me.

"Ma'am, your daughter, a week ago tonight, put herself in harm's way for me much like you did for Dimitri. I cannot speak for her. I can tell you that I'd be happy to accept your invitation." I finish with what I hope is a polite smile.

"Good Lord, this isn't a duel with seconds! It's dinner. Steven! What do you and Gail say about our family dinners that Dr. Thompson feels compelled to 'fall on her sword' for Gail?!" Elaine says emphatically but doesn't really raise her voice. I look at Traci's face and it's impassively blank. I make a mental note never to play poker with Traci.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

I'm downstairs in Holly's living room waiting on her to get ready. This is a first. Typically, she waits on me. Izzy is upstairs helping. I hope. It's Sunday, and we're all headed to the Death Star, aka my parents' house, for dinner. I told Holly not to worry, my mother can't dislike her more than she dislikes me. Besides, Izzy and Traci will be there to distract the Emperor. I've made Steve throw Traci to the wolves to save Holly. Hey, it's every Peck for herself.

The flowers stopped Thursday. That is to say, the last flowers were delivered on Wednesday, meaning we had reached 31 flowers a day. Holly can quote exactly how many flowers were delivered in total. I just know it was a boatload. Illya Petrovich, who acted like he did not speak English, except to ask for his lawyer, suddenly confessed Monday to shooting me in an attempt to kill who he thought was Holly. His son Anton has also confessed to the crime for which he's been indicted. Two men showed up at the station on Thursday and confessed to sending the flowers on behalf of Bolotnikov but denied any knowledge of what the flowers meant. Traci and Sam were able to verify their story. Finally, Steve said that they've received word that "it's finished" from Mom's source.

The knowledge that my mother is the architect of all of this is almost too much to handle. Steve told me about the meeting where my mother bargained for Holly's life. He told me about Elaine getting shot and about her admission that she started "grooming" us after Uncle Barry was shot. "Uncle" Barry was my dad's former partner who was shot when I was six. He was working undercover, not that I knew that at the time. He was just Uncle Barry, a huge man who would call me "peanut" and pick me up and put my feet on the ceiling so I could "walk on it" which made me giggle. I only knew he was gone and that made me sad.

Since Izzy was there at the meeting with Ovechkin, I've spoken to her about it as well. I'm still not convinced that my mother is a good person but maybe she's not as bad as I thought she was. Which is good news and bad news for my psyche. I mean, does that mean the Emperor's a great person who's right and I'm really as big a fuckup as she's told me I am? She went toe to toe with the Russian mob for Holly. For me. What does that say about her? About me? Izzy says she's reserving her opinion until she can see us both in action but that she does agree with me…my mom is super scary.

It's easy talking to Izzy. Not as easy as it is talking to Holly, but still pretty easy. Like when I told her I knew that she was going to the morgue in Holly's place she didn't try to deny it, didn't try to convince me not to tell Holly, she just replied, "So where's this conversation going Peck?"

My reply was, "Nowhere. I just want you to know I'm not stupid."

"Never said you were" she replied as she sashayed out of the room.

She's so easy to talk to, I've even told her some of the Perik stuff. I told her the nightmares hardly ever happen when I'm with Holly and she said that was nice, but asked what I did if I had to be alone. Then she suggested some exercises that I can use before I go to sleep at night to help with the nightmares. I gave her permission to speak to my therapist about what she saw and what she knows. I figure, shrink to shrink they can pow wow and maybe I won't have to dig into my soul for the words. I trust Izzy, which is weird, and it's not just because she's Holly's twin. I genuinely like her. She's smart, she's funny, and she doesn't ask stupid questions or make assumptions about me. She feels like family. She feels like Steve, but a girl. It's nice. Shut up.

I call upstairs. "Holly, this scenario was what I was thinking about when I asked you about getting ready with another girl! I have never, not once, not ever, been the one who was ready first! You're ruining my reputation!"

Izzy comes walking down the staircase a minute later. "You're wasting your time Gail. She's in full blown panic mode. I've tried everything. Expect rambling."

"Shit. I've seen her eviscerate a defense attorney from the stand, with a smile. Juries love her. Everyone loves her. Why is she so nervous?" I say as I begin walking up the stairs. Izzy doesn't respond because she knows I know why. Elaine Peck.

I walk into Holly's bedroom. She's wearing only her glasses, stark white lace boy shorts, and matching bra. White looks amazing with her olive skin. My mouth actually starts to water. She doesn't notice me at first and then she turns around. She holds up two different pairs of jeans, "The light pair or the dark pair?"

"I vote you go the way you are right now." I walk up to her with every intention of throwing her down on the bed and making her scream my name.

"Oh no you don't!" She backs away and holds up the jeans as barriers. "Gail, we're supposed to be there in forty-five minutes! I want to make a good impression. I want your parents to like me. We're not going to be late."

"Baby, they're going to love you. Even if they don't, because they're aliens, it wouldn't matter because I love you. No one is going to change that. I can prove it. Look, I'm even wearing the combat boots my mother despises to distract her. See?" I finish.

"I told you, I can take care of myself, Gail." She sighs at me.

"You're doing a banner job of it right now, Baby." I make a face at her.

"Be useful and help me pick out something to wear. You said 'casual' right? 'Cause I'm not sure that I have something that is appropriate. I mean, I want to look nice, but not like I'm trying too hard. I don't want to wear jeans, but you and Izzy are wearing jeans, and it might look strange if I was wearing slacks. What about your dad? What's he like? Is he like your mom? Or is he more like Steve? Or is he like you?"

"Jesus," I say, as I roll my eyes and grab her by the shoulders pulling her into a kiss that quickly becomes heated. I run my tongue across her bottom lip once more before I release her. "Calm down." I say softly.

"You ever think I do that just to get you to shut me up?" She smiles her Holly smile.

"Well, I wanted to do more than that but you shot me down. Bang. Bang." I say then kiss her on the forehead. "Wear the white dress shirt over your white camisole with the dark jeans. It's dressy but says, 'I don't care'. White looks amazing on your skin, and my Dad will totally love your boobs in it." I snicker.

"Eww, Gail. Wait. Does that mean you love my boobs in it?" She arches her eyebrow at me and purses her lips. I wonder, not for the first time, if there ever was anyone who was this perfect.

"Ewww? You have a PhD, an MD, and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and your go-to word is 'eww'?" I kiss her nose and begin to walk away.

She calls after me as I walk out of the bedroom, "Don't think I didn't notice you didn't answer that question, Gail!"

Good she was distracted enough to finish getting ready. Now, if we can just get through dinner without me committing matricide.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Holly**

Gail, Izzy, and I walk up to the front door of the Death Star, as Gail calls her parents' house, at exactly 6:55. Steve opens the door and greets Gail with, "About time you got here. You're late."

"Dinner's at 7. We're not late." Izzy replies.

"If you're not ten minutes early, you're late according to the Emperor." Gail tells her. Then she says to Steve, "I couldn't find my boots" and winks at him.

"I saw that" I say to them both. I don't think that I've ever been this nervous. Well, maybe the first time Gail and I made love, but that was a totally different kind of nervous. Come to think of it, Pecks are the only people that make me nervous. I wonder if it has to do with pheromones. No, earlier I was nervous before I was in the presence of Pecks. Shit! I'm rambling in my own head now. This is not good. I nervously bite my bottom lip.

"Steady there Little Sister. I'm right here." Izzy says to me and takes my hand.

"How did you know?" I ask Izzy.

"I remember how nervous I was when I met Tori's parents for the first time, and Janice isn't nearly as scary as Elaine." Izzy says and tries valiantly not to smirk at me. I feel my face blanch.

Gail gives Izzy her death glare. "Not helping there, Izzy." Gail turns to me, and takes my hand from Izzy into hers, "Baby, baby, look at me. Tonight does not matter. Nothing that they say, or do, or think, will change how I feel about you. Okay? Consider them non-factors. I love you." Then she kisses me sweetly.

"Yeah, Holly. Don't be nervous. They don't like us anyway so you'll be in good company." Steve says to me with that Peck smile.

"Steve?" I hear a man calling from the other room.

"Yeah, Dad!"

"Is that your sister and her guests?" Bill Peck asks.

"Yep!"

"Well bring them in here!"

We walk into the kitchen where the Peck parents are working together on dinner. Elaine is cutting up tomatoes and Bill is slicing cucumbers. Elaine is dressed in black slacks and loose red linen blouse with an apron over it and Bill is wearing khakis and a navy polo shirt. Traci is standing in the corner with what may be the largest glass of red wine I've ever seen, sipping slowly.

Elaine looks up as we enter. "Dr. Stewart, Dr. Thompson I'm so glad you could make it. You both look lovely. Gail, why do you insist on wearing those awful boots? They make your feet look huge." Gail shoots me a look that says 'you're welcome'.

"Please, Superintendent, call me Holly." I respond to Elaine.

"Then you must call me Elaine. Both of you." She looks at Izzy too. "I hope you're hungry. I've made lasagna. It's vegetarian. I used some sort of meat substitute that Gail suggested. I hope you like it. Gail mentioned that you were vegetarian, Holly. I hope you're not vegan. Are you?"

"No I'm not. Thank you, Elaine" I say, but my mind races with what exactly Gail will eat. She can't have lasagna. Tomato sauce. Is it possible that Elaine doesn't know that?

Just as I'm about to ask, Elaine says to Gail, "Gail I made you some with cheese sauce and your salad is already made. It's in the fridge. Segregated from the tomatoes here."

"Thanks, Mom." Gail replies.

Wine is offered all around. We fix our salads buffet style, except Gail, and make our way to the dining room table. Traci sits across from me next to Steve. The Peck parents are at the ends and Izzy and Gail sit on either side of me bracketing me in with their presence. Gail is on my left between me and her mother, a human shield. I'm as far as I can get from either of the elder Pecks. It's like there was a strategy about it. We make it through the salads without incident. I begin to relax which was most likely my first mistake. Bill and Elaine excuse themselves to bring in the lasagna and bread.

Gail leans over to me and asks, "How you holdin' up?"

"I'm fine."

"I told you. See? We just have to make it through coffee."

"Coffee? We're having coffee after dinner?" I say and am displeased that my voice cracks a little bit.

"Calm down, Nerd. One cup." She says and squeezes my hand under the table.

We're halfway through the main course when Elaine launches the first volley. "So, Gail, there's an undercover assignment that will require someone who speaks multiple languages coming up. Have you put your name in?"

"I have not." Gail replies as she continues to eat.

"You really should Gail. I can't think of anyone who would be more qualified than you. It would do a lot to help people forget the _other_."

White hot rage burns through me. She's speaking to Gail like Gail did something wrong. Like it's her fault. I'm about to speak when Gail squeezes my hand. Evidently, this is not new.

"Mother, if I do decide to put my name in, I'll let you know. Otherwise, let's drop it please."

"Gail, I…" Elaine starts, but is interrupted by Steve.

"Mom, did you know that Leo has been selected to the All-Star team in hockey?"

"I didn't know that Steven. Traci, you must be so proud."

"I am. He's very excited. They get new uniforms and everything. He likes the All-Star colors better." Traci responds.

"Steven was also very good at hockey. He was good at all sports really. Gail was terrible. She was just so uncoordinated you know?"

I can't stop myself. I say, "You know, I took her to the batting cages once. She started out pretty bad but by the end of the night she was hitting respectably."

Gail looks at me lovingly, "That's because you're a great teacher."

I smile back at her. We're lost in our bubble until Elaine speaks again. "Well, you must certainly have done something to make Gail adequate at anything sporty."

I'm about to snap at her when Traci speaks, "I don't know Elaine, for all of Gail's protests, I've never seen her let a runner get away from us on a chase. She's incredibly fit. I, for one, don't know how she does it."

Then Steve jumps in, "Yeah, but remember that time that Izzy, not you," he looks at Izzy, "Oliver's little girl is named Izzy too, Izzy kicked her and ran away from her at a party."

"Aww Steve, that doesn't count. You know Gail has a soft spot for kids. Besides, Izzy did kick the shit out of her." Traci smiles widely. I know this is a well-worn routine. They are talking about things that normal people would give Gail grief about. Things her friends would give her grief about. They are trying to move the conversation around to another less threatening topic.

"I did catch her." Gail smiles.

"You had help." Traci retorts.

"Not important. I rely on my brothers and sisters in blue." Gail raises her wine glass.

"Well said, Gaily. Well said." Bill speaks for the first time since Elaine started in on Gail. "So Holly, how did you and Gail meet?"

"Over skeletal remains." I reply. Then, "She tried to throw me out of my crime scene."

"That was my crime scene, and you didn't identify yourself." Gail replies.

"What happened?" Bill asks.

"She called me 'Lunchbox' and told me I couldn't go down there and then she called me a 'nerd'." I say to Bill then turn to Gail.

Gail smiles at me and then says, "I did not call you a nerd. I said that it was only obvious to nerds that you were a forensic pathologist."

Elaine clears her throat and then says, "Holly, will you help me with the coffee?" I look around the table and see the panicked looks on Gail, Steve and Traci's faces.

"Mom, I can…" Gail begins.

"Please, Holly, it will only take a moment. I'd like for Gail to be able to visit with her father a bit longer. We so rarely see her and Steve."

"Of course." I say as I stand. I feel like I'm going off to face a firing squad.

When we get in the kitchen, Elaine begins making coffee. As she works, she begins speaking, "I'm sure you've noticed that Gail and I have an adversarial relationship. That does not mean that I don't love her with all my heart." She pauses briefly then begins again, "Gail, does not trust easily, but she trusts you. I have to ask you, what it is that you want from my little girl."

I'm dumbfounded.

"Holly, you are a very accomplished woman. By all accounts, you are at the top of your field. You've published often, and are in demand to consult on cases throughout Canada and the States. I'm worried that your career will take you away from her, and she's in love with you. I know she is. It's written all over her. I don't want her to be left with nothing. I think if she takes this undercover job, she has a real chance for advancement. She's never been interested in advancement, and I think a woman like you would eventually get tired of being with a beat cop."

I open my mouth to speak but it won't cooperate.

"I know that I'm pushy. I'm a bitch. I really don't care what other people think of me. I know I meddle in my children's lives, but I do it because I want what's best for them. I've wanted to meet you for a long time. My baby girl is not impressed by much, but she's impressed by you. She thinks you're very special. I think she got her general attitude toward people from me. You know, I've pushed Gail, and pushed her, trying to get her to stand up for herself, and the first thing she ever really confronted me about was you. She wanted to protect you from me." She laughs. "But you don't need protecting from me do you, Holly?"

"No Ma'am, I don't." I finally say.

"So what do you want from my little girl?"

"Whatever she's willing to give me." I say, and she cocks her head as if to say that she expects more. "If all your daughter is, is a beat cop, and she's happy with that, then I'll be happy with her. I don't especially like how dangerous it can be, but it's part of who she is, and I love everything about her. I know you were a beat cop once, and you know how important it is that there are people, good experienced people, to do that job. So I wonder if you think so little of me, that you think I don't realize what an important job it is. Your daughter is amazing. She is the most amazing person I've ever met. She's…she's like the first time I ever looked through a microscope, she's a world of wonder and mystery. If I live a thousand years, I don't know that I'll ever discover everything about your daughter. She constantly steals my breath away, she's so beautiful inside and out. She's the bravest person I've ever known. She doesn't hesitate to put herself in danger. I wonder what I've ever done to deserve her."

I hear a noise and I turn to see Gail in the doorway. Tears streaming down her face. Elaine turns and sees her as well. "Well, I'll just take the coffee into the dining room." She picks up the coffee tray and as she walks by Gail she says, "Congratulations Darling, she's a keeper" and kisses Gail on the cheek as she walks by.

Gail walks up to me and hugs me fiercely, crying. "Hey, hey," I say. "What's wrong Baby?"

"Nothing's wrong. You stood up to my mom for me. You're amazing." She says into my neck, keeping me in the bear hug.

"No Baby, that's all you." I say as I kiss her cheek.

**A/N – My apologies if the Russian was wrong. I Googled it. **

**Elaine is an awfully persnickety character she completely took over this chapter. So pushy. I promise next chapter will be Rainbows, Unicorns and Sex. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey Folks,**

**So here it is, Rainbows, Unicorns, and Sex not necessarily in that order. This chapter is rated M for mature. I hope you like it.**

**A couple of things. I read something on Tumblr about Vonnegut's rules for smut where he recommended not using overly technical descriptions for the body. I think, in general, this is a good rule. However, when you're in the head of a Forensic Pathologist it's difficult to adhere to that. I can't pretend Holly Stewart does not have an intimate, encyclopedic knowledge of human anatomy. Hopefully, it's not too distracting. I also happen to think that Gail enjoys this aspect of Holly and thinks it's hot. See Chapter 5 where I worked Sternocleidomastoid into the sex scene. Call me crazy.**

**Also, my beta wanted me to end it before we got to the unicorn but I had promised you all unicorns. So if the last of the chapter is awkward, that's all me. Mistakes are all mine. Rookie Blue is not.**

**Oh, and the brand of Peanut Butter from chp 9 is North Shore Goodies. Thank you all so much for the Faves, Follows, and Reviews. I don't have words for what they mean to me.**

**Gail**

I'm in a relationship with a ruthless femme fatale. It's been four weeks since the shooting. No sex. Oh, I have attempted to have it, but she 'doesn't want to hurt' me. I have a case of blue clit. What?! That's totally a thing.

We had that beautiful wonderful weekend of the most amazing, most incredible sex and then that Monday the flowers started coming. Then her sister came, and while neither of those things stopped the sex, it certainly slowed down a bit. The universe loves to fuck with me.

Sunday before last, after we got home from my parents' house, I dragged Holly upstairs past Izzy with a hurried "Night Iz." When we got into the bedroom, I began stripping her, knowing that she had on that incredible set of white lace under her clothes. Her declaration of love about me to my mother still ringing in my ears, I may have been a bit ambitious about what exactly my body was ready to do. She was responding to me and nibbled on my neck causing me to gasp in pleasure. Unfortunately, my ribs weren't ready to handle sudden movement yet. My gasp of pleasure turned into a hiss of pain and she's been actively torturing me ever since.

Case in point, earlier this week, she wore a particularly sexy outfit to bed. I think she wants me to implode. She had on scrub pants and an old cream-colored Henley top that hung loosely off of her body except her breasts. It was so worn it was almost transparent, and I could see her dusky brown nipples through it. The Henley was cut off on the bottom and her scrub pants fell loosely on her hips showing off her incredible stomach and those two hollows between her hips and her abs. What is that called? It's lower than her waist. I wanted to drag my teeth across them, and lick and suck there until she writhed under me begging me to go lower. I called her out on it though.

"_You're torturing me on purpose."_

"_What?" She looks at me as she pulls the covers down on her side of the bed._

"_That outfit. You're doing this on purpose. It's not nice to tease the animals." I say and cross my arms over my chest. She just starts laughing._

"_Gail, I am not trying to torture you. I have on an outfit that covers me almost completely. This shirt is from undergrad. It's well over a decade old. I'm wearing scrubs from my externship year in med school."_

"_What about your midriff? You're showing off there." I point waiving my finger more than I meant to._

"_What?" She looks down. "That's like maybe two centimeters."_

"_And your nipples, I can see your nipples through your shirt." I point again._

"_You've seen my nipples before Gail. In fact, I happen to know you're intimately acquainted with them." She arches that eyebrow at me and gives me a smug look._

"_You won't let me visit" I pout._

"_Honey, believe me, this tortures me at least as much as it does you, but I won't hurt you. We're waiting until you've healed properly. I won't risk hurting you again. I can only blame the stress of meeting your mother for even letting it get to that point that night."_

_I just glared at her. She begins again, "Honey, when you're ready, you'll get tired of me trying to get into your pants."_

_I rolled my eyes in response._

Today, I'm still on desk duty and God help Oliver, he's put Price on with me. Why, I'm not sure.

"Gail, how are you feeling today?" Princess asks me.

"I'd be better if I didn't have your annoying voice in my ear Princess Anna." I respond not looking up from my paperwork at her.

"We should totally dress up on Halloween! You can be Elsa and I can be Anna! You've seen Frozen! What did you think of it? I'm totally flattered that you think of me as Anna. She's so perky."

"Shut up. Oh my God, shut up." I knew watching Frozen with Sophie was going to bring me nothing but heartache. In the past few weeks, I haven't been able to see Sophie at all. I didn't want to endanger her. However, this week I was finally able to see her. There is a family that's very interested in adopting her. I've met them. I've run background checks on them. They seem very nice. We discussed it when I visited her at the home this week. Sophie's very excited. So much so, that I let her enthusiasm sweep me along into agreeing to watch Frozen. I return my thoughts back to Chloe. "You know, you're lucky I let you live after not giving me a heads up about Izzy. I wouldn't push it if I were you."

"Who knew you were going to pounce on her like a hyena on a dead water buffalo?" She replies

I look over at her incredulously, "That was a little dark for you."

"Too much Discovery channel. Dov and I have been on separate schedules. I'm trying to keep myself occupied but I'm itchy if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, well if you're itchy, I have poison ivy." I respond before I realize what I've said.

She turns to me with an astonished look on her face. "Oh wow. Gail, I'm sorry. I guess because you've still got the rib issue huh? You know, after I was shot, I had Nick talk to Dov. I totally understand where you're coming from."

"I don't think having Nick explain my needs to Holly is going to go over too well. Do you?" I curl my lip at her.

"Guess not." She pauses to think for a second. "I could. You know, talk to her."

"You will pretend that I have not spoken for the last five minutes. You will pretend that this conversation never happened because that's totally what I'm going to do. Also, if you're going to shoot rainbows out your ass about something that you think is soo cute, or sooo sweet, or sooo something, give me some warning. Understand?" I fix her with a glare. She begins staring at something over my left shoulder.

"Warning." Chloe smiles at me.

I turn to see Holly. "Hey you," she says and smiles a full smile. It's dazzling.

"Hey," I respond with a smile of my own. "What are you doing here?" I say as I turn to her and stand.

"Remember when you said you'd take me away when this was all over? Even somewhere sunny?" She says as she walks to me and holds my hands in hers.

"Yeah," I answer cautiously.

"So I'm here to ask you." She says and when I continue to stare at her she finishes, "I'm here to ask you go away with me."

"Sure. I just need to know when and clear it with Oliver. Maybe we could check tonight and see if we can find some cheap flights. Do you know where you want to go?"

"Sorry. You misunderstood me. I mean right now. Will you go with me right now?"

"Holly, I…I have to finish my shift and I haven't asked for any time off…"

"Actually, I'm here to finish your shift Gail." Chloe says to me and smiles.

"Honey, I talked to Oliver already. You have the time off. I've booked our tickets. I even packed you a bag." Holly says and squeezes my hands. "I wanted to pamper you and I didn't want you to over-think it. What do you say?"

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Do you really care?" She purses her lips at me.

"No. I don't." I squeeze Holly's hands and turn to Chloe. "Price, it's all yours." We walk to the locker room hand in hand.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After I change out of my uniform we walk outside 15 and Rodney is waiting with his car to take us to the airport. Once there, I'm a bit shocked to learn our destination. We're headed to Miami.

"Miami?"

"Only for tonight."

"Baby, did you remember to get my passport?"

"Of course." She responds as we head toward security.

We have first class tickets. At my silent inquiry, her response was, "Given your propensity to consume copious amounts of alcohol I thought this was the cheapest option. I made sure liquor beverages were included." I just smile at her and wave the flight attendant over for a tiny bourbon.

When we get to Miami, we take a taxi to a five-star hotel. We're greeted by a contingent of bellhops and porters. You know what, I don't know what they called them, but they were in uniform and they took our bags up to the room while we had dinner in the nicest of the three hotel restaurants. I had a steak that melted in my mouth, and Holly had some sort of tofu dish disguised as stir fry.

Once we finally get to our suite, she pushes me in the shower and tells me that we're going to go out dancing and promises to lay my clothes out for me. I'm a little tipsy and very full from dinner. I try to convince her to shower with me but she refuses. The shower is huge. There's a "rain" setting on a showerhead in the ceiling. There is a wall of showerheads that spray your body from all angles. I turn the water on cold at one point just because I'm not entirely sure where this evening is going and I don't think my body can handle all the anticipation without slowing it down somewhat.

I think about exiting the bathroom naked but decide against that too and put on a fluffy white hotel robe. I walk out and see Holly getting her bathroom bag out of her suitcase. She turns to me and I see her eyes fire, like an ember and then it's gone. She wants me, but she's holding back still.

"Hey, did you leave me any hot water?"

"A little." I say as she walks past me with a bundle of clothes.

"I'm going to take these into the bathroom to change. That way you can have fun getting ready." She winks at me.

"Funny."

"I love you." She says as she closes the door.

I walk over to the bed and my strapless blue mini dress is laid out on the bed. She has my makeup bag from home on the vanity outside the bathroom. I scan the contents of my suitcase. Not bad. It seems to be a mix of very casual and dressy clothes. There's even a bathing suit. I wonder where we're headed tomorrow and when she found the time to do all of this. I mean how did she even get in my apartment?

I walk to the vanity and begin to put on my makeup. Then I fix my hair. I shimmy into my dress and then put on my shoes. I examine the results in the full-length mirror. Not bad. Not bad at all. The dress is roughly the same size as a postage stamp and looks like it's torn between covering my crotch and covering my tits. Oh well, Holly picked it out. I hope it's appropriate for wherever we're going. Finally, I put on my lipstick.

Holly opens the bathroom door wearing the pants and shoes she wore to Frank and Noel's wedding but this time with a white v cropped halter blouse with a metal choker neckline. It ties in the back and other than the tie around her middle and the one around her neck her back, her luscious, luscious back is on display. I can see it in the mirror behind her. I'm not sure where to look. It looks like miles of her abs are on display, her collar bones are peeking out from under the top, and her lean muscular arms are competing for attention. My mouth starts to water. Evidently, my reaction to Holly is literally Pavlovian.

She looks me over, clears her throat, and says, "Gail you look delicious. Though I'm not sure I want to take you out of here in that outfit. We might get arrested."

"Oh Fuck this!" I say as I reach for her and kiss her passionately, wrapping one hand around her neck and tangling one hand in her hair, pressing her firmly up against the wall in one swift movement.

**Holly**

Oh sweet baby Jesus on a pogo stick, Gail can kiss. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but it's like a drug. Doing it just makes me want to do it again, and more often, see if she can get me as high as she did last time. She does. Every time, I fall a little further into her. Lost in her lips, her tongue, her hands, her breasts that my hands ache to touch. I run my hands up her torso, along that blue dress that seems to perfectly match her eyes. I feel her nipples pebble against the palms of my hands. She takes in a sharp breath and I'm brought back to my senses.

"Gail, Gail, we need to stop." I say as I pull my lips from hers.

"No we don't." She says as she moves her mouth to my neck, nipping just below my mandible on the sensitive skin there. She continues to kiss my neck and then moves to my right ear so she can whisper, "Holly, I want you so badly. You look incredible. I can't wait another minute. I'm fine I swear. No pain whatsoever. Unless, you count this throbbing between my legs. Are you ready for me, Baby?" She follows this by tracing her tongue along my ear and then sucking on my earlobe.

"Yes" I moan as I clutch the back of her dress.

Kissing my neck again, she trails her hands down my sides, her fingertips running over my External Obliques. Then they trace along the crest of my ilium running over the skin just above. Finally, moving lower to unbutton my pants and pushes her hand inside into what would have been embarrassing a moment ago but now I could care less. I want her so badly.

Her response is to groan. "You're so wet, Holly. Is this for me?" She says as she kisses along my Clavicle.

"Yes."

"What do you want Baby? Tell me." She says as she looks into my eyes.

"I want you to touch me."

"How?"

"I don't care. Just touch me, Gail. Touch me. I need you."

She pulls her hand from my pants and then pulls back still looking me in the eye. She puts her fingers to her mouth and sucks on them. I moan in response. She pushes my pants down my hips, bending from the waist so that she can lick and bite my abdomen. I put my hand on her back to steady myself as I pull my right foot out of the pants. She leaves the pants around my left foot. Then she sinks to her knees in front of me.

My mind goes, for the first time in my adult memory, blank. I'm standing there in a lust induced haze watching what has to be the most desirable woman I've ever known, kneel in front of me. I'm grateful for the wall at my back. She looks up at me and smiles. My breath hitches. Her eyes are dark with arousal. "I've got you Holly. I'm going to take care of you but I couldn't wait another moment to taste you." And with that, she dips her head and puts her mouth on me, all the while looking up at me with those eyes. Those eyes that I can read like a well-worn book. I see love, desire, and wonder. Her eyes are my favorite thing about Gail. They convey to me that there's nothing and no one she'd rather be doing in that moment. That thought, and pressure of her lips and tongue on me, causes a rush of arousal which is greeted by a moan from Gail as she licks and sucks me into a frenzy. I raise my right leg over her shoulder to give her more access. She pushes her fingers into me. My hips begin to undulate on their accord. I'm riding her mouth and fingers. I've never in my life had an orgasm standing up. I've done things sure, but never actually made it. However, I know that she's about to take me there. I grab the back of her head to hold her in place where I need her. "Gail, baby, I'm close. Oh. My. God. Shit. Fuck. Ohhhhhhhhh." I catch a glimpse of us in the mirror. Gail's head moving between my legs, my leg draped over her shoulder. It's hypnotic. I pull her closer into me. She increases the pressure on my clit. Suddenly, the first wave rolls over me and I scream her name as I come undone as wave after wave of the orgasm wash through me.

I'm not sure if my leg can continue to hold me up but she moves my right leg back to the ground and raises up. The next thing I know, she's guiding me to the couch in the room but instead of the front she moves my hands to the back of the couch so that I'm bending over it. She caresses my butt with her hands and then pushes herself against me. I'm still in a haze from the first round but unexpectedly, I'm ready again. She puts one hand on the small of my back and the other along the inside of my thigh. She trails her hand over the wetness between my legs and asks me, "What do you want?"

"I want you to fuck me." I say, a little stunned by my barefaced need.

"Oh my God" she growls. "Yes. Yes."

She enters me with her thumb moving it in and out slowly. Pushing against me with her body at the end of every thrust. I feel full. I feel wanton. I feel like I'm with the sexiest woman on earth. She's driving me mad. My knees are getting weak. I don't know how much longer I can remain standing.

"Faster" I manage to pant out. She complies. I can feel myself getting impossibly wetter. I begin to tighten around her thumb. Then she curls her fingers around me and rubs my clit. It's too much. I can't hold back the tidal wave of sensation.

My entire body spasms like I'm having a seizure. I feel as though I've been lit on fire. It's like no orgasm I've ever had in my life. White heat spreads from my center throughout my body. I call out but I'm not sure what I said. I'm completely overwhelmed by sensation.

I'm vaguely aware of moving through the room after my orgasm subsides. The next thing I know I'm naked from the waist down on the big king-sized bed with Gail curled up around me. I look up at her in awe.

"That was totally hot." She says to me.

"You know, I question if I ever actually had sex before you." I say as I reach up to cup her cheek. "You are amazing."

"All you Baby. All you." She says to me, mirroring my comment to her at her parents' house.

"So what do you want?" I ask as I trace the neckline of her dress along her breast.

"I don't care."

"Honey, you've been after me to have sex for the past two weeks. Surely, you have some ideas." I smirk at her.

"Not really. I'm more of an 'in the moment' kinda gal. Besides, I'm so turned on right now, if you touch me, it's going to be over in two seconds. You are the sexiest woman I've ever met..."

"I beg to differ."

"Anyway," she says as she kisses me sweetly on the lips "you sorta just fulfilled a couple of fantasies of mine. So, I'm good for the moment."

"Really?" I say and arch my eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, but it's not like I planned it out or anything. I mean that outfit drove me to it." She blushes. It starts on her chest and moves up her neck. She's adorable and delicious.

"Oh really?" I say as I maneuver her onto her back.

"Well, yeah. I mean it was okay wasn't it?"

"Gail, you were here right? I mean it's not like you took advantage of me or anything."

"No! Of course not! I asked you!" She says and I just smile at her. "You're not funny, Holly Stewart."

"I am, but I was just teasing you. You do always ask me what I want. You are a very attentive lover. I trust you Gail. I trust you implicitly. I've never trusted anyone the way I trust you. I love you more than anything."

She looks at me with those eyes, "Holly, I've told you before. I don't have words for what you mean to me but I do love you so much. I just can't explain how much I love you."

"How about, I show you how much I love you?" I ask.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, we can order room service. I'll get some champagne up here and we can drink and make love all night instead of going out. But," I pause to see if I've got her attention "you have to promise me that sometime on this trip you'll go dancing with me Gail Peck. I've been dreaming of going dancing with you since I kissed you in that coat room."

"Deal"

I call downstairs and tell them that there's a worthwhile tip in it for whoever can bring us champagne in the next five minutes. I spent more on the tip than the champagne cost on the room service menu but it was worth it. When I closed the door, I turned around and Gail was naked in bed waiting for me draped in the white sheets holding two flutes of champagne.

"Come here." She purrs at me.

I discard the robe I had thrown on when there was a knock at the door. Then I untie my top and let it fall to the floor. Her eyes darken markedly. "You should put the champagne down now Gail." She does, and I crawl up the bed toward her. I move the sheet away from her body so that I can straddle her hips. We're both naked. I run the palms of my hands lightly over her nipples. She inhales sharply and winces slightly. "Gail, are you okay?"

"Holly, if you stop now I'll spontaneously combust. You can't stop." She holds her hands over my hands. "I need you Baby. I need you. I'm aching for you. I'm…" She pulls my right hand down between her legs and whispers in my ear, "I've never wanted anything or anyone the way I want you." She's slick for me and my resolve crumbles but I won't hurt her. I can't hurt her.

I close my eyes, exhale, and say, "Give me a second Honey. Let me make it so I won't hurt you." I slide off her lap and arrange the pillows behind her so that she's supported. She leans back. Then I settle myself between her legs. I begin slowly, softly, and she starts to moan. "You okay?" I lift my head.

"Do. Not. Stop. Whatever happens, do not stop." She says and tugs on my hair playfully. I roll my eyes but resume my cunnilingual duties. I watch her, making sure that she is, in fact, okay. When her hips begin to cant off the bed, I insert two fingers inside her. Her fingers are digging into the sheets. I can see her abdominal muscles straining and quivering. Her breath is coming in short gasps now. I look at her face to see if she's in pain but don't stop. "Oh baby! Baby!" She screams and her body falls over the edge of the orgasm and begins to shudder. I don't stop. I keep going. We repeat the cycle two more times. Each time the interval of spasms lengthens. The last one, she wraps her legs around me with her heels on my back pulling me into her. I moan and she comes apart. "Holy Shit!" After a few moments, she pulls my head away from her. "Stop. Stop. Baby, it's okay. Stop."

I look up at her, "Did I hurt you?"

"No Baby. You didn't hurt me. You were perfect, like always. Come here." She pulls me up to lie down beside her.

"How does your chest feel?" I say as I trace patterns on it lightly with my fingers. "Any soreness? Any sharp pains? Any shortness of breath?"

"I'm fine Dr. Stewart. And I'd bet that most people you've done that to get short of breath at some point." She kisses my nose. I continue running my fingers over her chest. "You like doing that, don't you?"

"I do. Yes." I say, not really looking at her continuing to run my fingers lightly over her chest.

"Why?"

"It's silly."

"Tell me anyway."

"It's the part of you that's most hidden away when you're on duty under that bullet-proof vest. Thank God. The day we met, I was so attracted to you…"

"I knew it!"

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"I do. I'm sorry." She kisses me sweetly. "Please continue."

"I was so attracted to you, but you were all bundled up in that coat and the vest and that bulky utility belt. You were so snarky and quick. Had such an incredible mind. You are such a fast learner Gail. Anyway, I knew I wanted to get to know you. I knew by the end of the day you weren't a lesbian, but I told you about me, to warn you, I guess? I didn't want to get rejected by a new friend a few weeks down the road when she found out and couldn't deal with it."

"Okay"

"The night after Frank and Noelle's wedding I had a dream. It was about us. We went dancing and you were in that dress you had on at the wedding. Then we were just talking, like in the lab, but we weren't in the lab, we were in my house, and you were in your uniform. You said something, something sad, and I wanted to comfort you, and I touched your chest. Your vest melted away and I was running my fingers over your chest. And you said, "That's nice Holly. That makes me feel safe." I finally look at her.

"Baby. You do it for me?" She says with tears in her eyes.

"Well, I guess I am, but I have no idea if it works or not. Does it?"

"It does. You make me feel safe." She says as a tear rolls down her cheek.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

Holly and I made love all night. I didn't want to leave the hotel, and wouldn't have if she hadn't promised that where we were going was better. I can't say that I saw a lot of Miami but I sure had a good time. We went to the airport again and boarded the tiniest plane I have ever seen. Destination -Key West.

We land in the Key West International Airport which I can promise you sounds bigger than it is. We take a taxi to the west side of the Island. We end up on a side street off Duval, which as far as I could tell had a bar every ten feet or so. Key West, other than the sun, is shaping up to be my kind of place. The taxi drops us in front of a two story house, a bit more well-kept than the others I've seen. It looks like it's weathered a lot of storms but it's homey, solid. There's a huge Blue flag with a white unicorn on it. "Wow. These people like unicorns."

Holly just starts laughing. "I'm these people Gail."

"What?"

"You know my last name is Stewart right?" She says. I just look at her. "What's the national animal of Scotland Gail?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say the unicorn."

"So smart." She says and kisses me.

"So this is your house Holly?" I ask as she puts a key from her keychain in the door lock.

"My grandparents summer home."


	12. Chapter 12

**Gail**

Holly and I made love all night. I didn't want to leave the hotel, and wouldn't have if she hadn't promised that where we were going was better. I can't say that I saw a lot of Miami but I sure had a good time. We went to the airport again and boarded the tiniest plane I have ever seen. Destination - Key West.

We land in the Key West International Airport, which I can promise you, sounds bigger than it is. We take a taxi to the west side of the Island. We end up on a side street off Duval, which as far as I could tell, had a bar every ten feet or so. Key West, other than the sun, is shaping up to be my kind of place. The taxi drops us in front of a two story house, a bit more well-kept than the others I've seen. It looks like it's weathered a lot of storms but it's homey, solid. There's a huge Blue flag with a white unicorn on it. "Wow. These people like unicorns."

Holly just starts laughing. "I'm these people Gail."

"What?"

"You know my last name is Stewart right?" She says. I just look at her. "What's the national animal of Scotland Gail?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say the unicorn."

"So smart." She says and kisses me.

"So this is your house, Holly?" I ask as she puts a key from her keychain in the door lock.

"My grandparents summer home."

"I thought you were from Vancouver. This is a long way from Vancouver."

"It is, yes. It's time you knew. Technically, I'm an American." She says as she opens the door and walks into the house.

I stand there stunned for a moment and then I walk in after her and say "What?" I look around. The ceilings were at least twenty feet high, big ceiling fans in a row along its surface. This house was built before electricity meant air-conditioning. There were transom windows above the interior doors that could be opened for circulation. Two large striped couches dominate the living room. High wide windows run along the east wall. A large wooden bookcase filled to the top with books dominates the other side of the room.

She begins to open the curtains and blinds, "Izzy and I were born in Seattle. We were preemies. Not uncommon for twins. My dad was a grad assistant at the University of Washington. He got his doctorate there. They were supposed to move back to Vancouver for the summer so that my Gran, my mom's mom, could help my mom out with us. But we arrived early and nixed that plan. Gran came to Washington. But the fact that we were born on American soil made Gamma happy."

"Gamma?"

"Yeah. My Dad's mom. She was a researcher, chemo drugs mostly, and thought it was funny I couldn't say my 'r's'. So she became 'Gamma' like gamma ray. She's also from Birmingham, Alabama. She met, Pops, my Grandfather, when they worked together on a project in Montreal. Pops worked in the lab for her and she was constantly telling him what to do. He's always said it was good practice for their marriage. They spend half the year in Vancouver, and half here or in Alabama. This was her family's vacation home. Her maiden name is my middle name, Garland."

"Wow. Okay. So your entire family are scientists of some sort?"

"Well, Gamma would say that Dad went into a soft science because she hates psychology but she loves him and is very proud of him. She let him find his own way. Then Mom's family are mostly doctors and lawyers. Mom is the only pediatrician though."

"This is neat." I say as she walks through the dining room into the kitchen. The floor plan was living room, dining room, and kitchen. All fairly open, but in a line.

"Neat?" She arches that eyebrow and purses her lips at me.

"Yeah, it's all lined up."

"Like if you shot a shotgun it'd go through the whole house?" She asks.

"Yeah. I guess?" I look at her curiously. That was an un-Holly thing to say.

"Gamma has always called it a 'Shotgun house.' Allegedly, that's where the name comes from. A projectile would pass through all the rooms."

"Weird, but in a good way…So no pressure on you to go into the family business?"

"No. Not really. I mean I had an aptitude for science really early and Izzy could meet someone and size them up psychologically. We didn't call it profiling then, but that's what it was. I don't think she even did it consciously. It's just who she is really." She says as she opens the fridge and takes out two beers, then holds one up toward me to ask if I wanted it.

"Please."

She opens them then walks back into the living room with me following. She and sits on one of the couches, then hands me the beer before she finally continues, "They encouraged us with our 'gifts' as they called them, but I never felt pushed or forced." She looks up at me solemnly and says, "I know you did, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Baby. It's not your fault I'm a Peck. Hell, it's not even mine." I smile at her. "So, your Gamma is an American but everyone else is Canadian?" I sit next to her.

"Yes."

"So how are you an American again?"

"I was born on American soil. So, technically, I'm an American. Citizenship would mean that I could work anywhere in the States, as long as I pass the background check."

"Do you want to do that Holly?"

"I'd love to work at the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee. That's the one Dr. Bass started. The research capabilities alone. There are others of course, but I've always been captivated by that one. Or Michigan State is studying the biomechanics of pediatric skull fracture. That's sad but fascinating nonetheless. There's a project in San Francisco that is just getting off the ground…"

"Do you want to move to these places? Do you want to live in the U.S.?" I ask, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

She looks up at me through her lashes and holds my gaze a long moment before speaking. "I've considered them. I've never had any ties strong enough to hold me anywhere. I've even applied to some of them in the past. But that was before." She pauses.

I wait what seems like forever. I can't stand it anymore. "Before what?"

"Before you."

And just like that, all the air is sucked from my lungs. She's stolen my breath. No one has ever put me first before. "Baby…" I begin, emotion threatening to overpower me, "I don't want to hold you back. I want you to have what you want. I want you to be happy."

"Gail, you idiot. Do you think I could be happy without you? Do you think I want any of those if it cost me you? You don't hold me back. You make me whole." I reach out and cup her cheek in my hand. Tears streaming down my face. "Hey, hey, no need for tears, Honey." She whispers.

"Holly, no one has ever loved me like you love me. It's a little overwhelming at times." I say, and she kisses my palm. "But promise me that if you get any offers, we'll talk about them. Okay? I really don't want to hold you back. I know you're a super-nerd and I want you to be the best you can be. We'll work it out, whatever it is. I promise."

"See? Besotted." She says, as she pulls me into a sweet lingering kiss. "What do you want to do for the rest of the day Peck?" She asks, her arms still around me, and I just wiggle my eyebrows. "Well, I'm not sure the air-conditioning is up to that now. We just got here and for the next couple of hours, it will probably be cooler outside."

"It's not that bad here."

"That's because we're downstairs. Upstairs was not as well-planned. Betty turned the air on this morning but it won't cool off until evening most likely. She said the unit probably needs to be replaced. I need to tell Dad so he can price a new unit for them."

"Betty?"

"She and her partner were the first lesbians I ever knew." Holly smiles a genuine smile.

"Do I need to be jealous, Baby?" I smile at her.

"Absolutely, she was most definitely my first crush. She's offered to take us snorkeling. I think you'd enjoy it. How about it?"

"You remember my conditions?" I ask, and at her blank look continue, "Sunscreen."

"Oh," her eyes go wide, "I can definitely handle that. I wouldn't want to miss any areas. We should probably start now." She reaches around my back and unzips my top. "This is purely for your protection, understand. You'll cooperate?"

"Yes, I can be very, very cooperative. Would you like me to show you?" I say, as I kiss her neck.

"Ohh, Yesss, I know you can." She inhales sharply. "But I'm not sure that this type of cooperation is what the situation calls for," she replies as she puts her hands on my shoulders and pushes firmly. "Honey, I want to show you Key West. Let me."

"Fine Nerd. But you're all mine later. Understood?"

"Absolutely. Now behave while I cover you in sunscreen."

"I can if you can."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Turned out that Holly could not behave. We made love on the couch several times prior to Holly convincing me to go down to the marina. Oh, how I love it when she's bad. She can be so, so, bad, but I digress. She kept her promise though. I had sunscreen in places that I hoped never saw the sun, but it was there 'just in case' she said. My nerd is thorough.

We put on our bathing suits and headed out. Holly's wearing aviator sunglasses, an orange bikini and a matching sarong skirt around her waist, her belly ring sparkling above the sarong. She's changed out the rhinestone to a silver skull and crossbones. That belly ring may cause me to have heart failure one day, or walk into a pole, which I almost did. Holly pretends not to notice. I'm also in aviators which I had stolen from Nick not because of any affection for him but because they looked amazing on me, a navy one-piece and a new white cover-up that Holly bought me.

I'm still not sure exactly how I let her walk out of the house. Her body is just as mesmerizing to me as the first time I saw it. I've committed every plane and every curve to memory. If I could draw, I could recreate it without her to model for me. You know, I should get my camera out of storage. I'd like to take pictures of Holly. I used to enjoy taking pictures. Not _those_ kinds of pictures. Get your mind out of the gutter.

She had called ahead and we were met on the dock by a 6' woman in her sixties in a navy bathing suit cover-up. She had shoulder-length auburn hair, shot through with gray, held back from her face by large sunglasses. Her green eyes sparkled when she saw Holly and a cigarette hung from her lips as she smiled. Holly ran to hug her. Ran.

"Betty!" Holly shrieked as she hugged her. I continued to walk toward them.

"Hey Doc! So good to see you. This your girl?" She says, never taking the cigarette from her lips.

Holly held her hand out toward me. I took it gratefully and she replied, "She is, yes. Betty, this is Gail. Gail this is Betty, the first woman I ever had a crush on."

Betty removes the cigarette and looks at Holly. "Is that so?"

"It is." Holly replies and kisses her cheek. "Don't tell Ronnie."

"Oh, I won't. Don't worry. Somehow I'd be in the doghouse over it." Betty replied.

"And Ronnie is?" I ask.

"Coming up behind you." Holly says.

I turn to see a beautiful blonde woman in an enormous black sun hat coming down the dock. She was in a white one-piece with white running shorts on over it. She has lightly tan skin and is wearing black round sunglasses. "HOLLY STEWART! Get over here and hug me!"

"Yes ma'am." Holly scampers over to her and hugs her dutifully. "Ms. Veronica Devereaux meet Gail Peck." Holly gestures over to me, "My girlfriend."

She takes off her Jackie O glasses and says, "Well, hello, gorgeous. Are you treating my Holly right?" She asks as she appraises me with pale blue eyes.

"I'm trying ma'am."

"Trying? There should be more doing. Not trying."

"There's plenty of 'doing' going on Ronnie" Holly retorts.

"Well said, Sugar! Good for both of you. But that doesn't change my original question. Are you treating Holly right?" She asks me with a stare that I could only aspire to.

"Ms. Devereaux, my answer remains the same. Holly deserves the absolute best. Every day I try to give that to her. I don't always succeed, but I always try. If it makes you feel better, I usually hate people but I love her, so I try." I answer.

She throws her head back and laughs, "At least you're honest. I like that in a girl. That's how Betty got me."

"So you're 'Betty and Veronica'?" I ask smiling.

"Yeah, ain't that a kick in the head, Sugar? Would you believe, my best guy friend growing up was named Archie? We dated a bit, before I learned that boys weren't my thing." She walks up to Betty and puts her arm around her shoulders. "I met Betty in 1974 and we moved down here in '84 after Reagan was elected for a second term. Started working for Holly's grandparents, shortly after that."

"Work for your grandparents?"

"They're full time residents. They get the house ready when we come to visit. Or, board it up when there's a hurricane. Betty turned on the air today and put the beer in the fridge for us. They have a charter business but have always done odd jobs for my grandparents."

"Speaking of, Holly, Sally called this morning. They're planning on coming tomorrow." Betty says as she removes the cigarette from her lips.

"What?!" Holly asks and she looks shocked. "They're in France. They were going to be in France through the end of the month."

"Jack got tired of Sally dragging him to castles I think. I told them that you were here entertaining. I'm afraid that just made them want to come more. I'm sorry."

"Awww, Betty, did you tell them I had my girlfriend here?" Holly whines, actually whines.

"I said you and a friend were here. I hadn't met the beautiful Miss Peck yet so I was a bit slim on the details." Betty replies as she returns the cigarette to her lips.

"Shit." Holly breathes out.

"Holly, what's wrong?" I ask.

"Well, Gail, my getaway just for the two of us will now include my grandparents, who I love, but will definitely change my vacation plans.

I pull her to the side, "Do you want me to leave Baby? I will if you want me to." I say sincerely.

She tilts her head, "Do you want to leave Gail?"

"That's not what I said. I asked you what you want." I try to convey with my eyes that I only want what's best for her.

"Honey, this isn't exactly what I had planned. I wanted you to myself a bit longer. But if you're asking if I somehow don't want you to meet my family for some reason or another, the answer is that I've never brought a girl here before. I never wanted to share this place with anyone. Also, I'm a little afraid that they are going to overwhelm you and you're going to do the tree thing again."

I kiss her then, "Baby, I grew up Peck. There's no way Stewarts are going to scare me off." I smile at her. "Now you promised to take me snorkeling and I only have so much time in the sun before I burst into flames."

"Are you implying you're a vampire Gail?"

"Worse things have been said about me. Let's go."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Holly**

Gail embraced snorkeling with her childish enthusiasm. When she saw a nurse shark (which I had told her before she'd most likely see and that they were harmless) she pulled me to the surface to tell me.

"Holly! Holly! Did you see that? Did you see that shark?!"

"Yes, Honey, that's what I was looking at when you pulled me away."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. Are you having fun?"

"Yes." We go back to snorkeling. After a few minutes, she pulls me to the surface again, "Holly, do you see the shark?"

"Nope. Not since the last time you pulled me to the surface." I smile at her.

"I wasn't afraid before, but now all I can hear is the Jaws theme."

"C'mon. Let's get in the boat. I'll have Betty take us back. Unless you want to go Parasailing?"

"Go what?"

"Parasailing. It's fun." I say as I swim toward the boat.

"I'll watch you. Do you think they brought any alcohol?" Gail asks as she follows me.

"Are you kidding? Ronnie's father was a bootlegger." I say lowly right before I climb the ladder.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Betty got out the parasail and I took a turn around the key. I love parasailing. It's a mixture of exciting and calming at the same time. It's hard to explain. When I finally finished, Gail and Ronnie were sitting under the boat's canopy and had their heads pressed together. I was helping Betty fold the parachute away and asked, "What's going on over there?"

"Not sure. They've been thick as thieves since you went up. I think they're plotting something." Betty replies.

At that moment both Gail and Ronnie throw their heads back and laugh and then clink…martini glasses? "Martinis? Gail doesn't drink Martinis. Betty?"

"Hey, I was a little busy trying to keep you up in the air. I take absolutely no responsibility here." Betty responds.

"Holly!" Gail calls over to me. "Ronnie has the most incredible stories of growing up. She made me the only Martini I've ever liked. And, and, she told me about running from the police when she was little with her Dad!"

"Gail, Honey, did you tell Ronnie what you do for a living?"

"Yeah, of course. But we're like the coyote and the sheepdog clocking in and out." Gail responds.

"It frightens me that I'm now mostly able to follow your trains of thought." I respond and at Betty's blank look say to Betty, "You know the cartoon with the coyote and sheepdog? They clock in and out. Off shift and on break they are friends, but during business hours the coyote tries to steal the sheep and the sheepdog tries to stop him. Both use any means necessary. Gail is saying that they are currently in a state of détente. Gail's a police officer."

"Oh I see." Betty says. Betty was one of the most well educated people I've ever known. I always wondered how she managed to stay with the mercurial Ronnie. The parallel between the four of us just now becoming clear in my mind. Perhaps Betty saw in Ronnie what I saw in Gail. Someone to pull her out of her shell. Someone so different, so amazing, she just couldn't help herself.

"Betty, you've never told me how you and Ronnie met. How you won her heart." I say quietly.

"Really? Well, let's see…I was working as a cocktail waitress in a strip club on Bourbon Street." She says and at my surprised look continues, "I'd been thrown out of college for 'unnatural acts.' Which basically meant that the Dean of Women caught me and her daughter, Claudia, in a very compromising position. As I recall, Claudia was screaming Jesus' name like he was a little kid playing in the street while her legs were wrapped around my head. I didn't hear her mother walk in and that was it for my scholarship. I moved to New Orleans and the cocktail job at the Purple Pony was the easiest way to make money without actually taking my clothes off."

"What happened to Claudia?"

"Don't know really. I never saw her again. I heard through mutual friends she finished school but she never contacted me after that. I left information with the same friends but I didn't contact her directly. I was too afraid that somehow her mother's reach would ruin my life for a second time. I think she married a man a few years later. Had a few kids. By that time, I was too wrapped around Ronnie's little finger to care."

"So you met Ronnie while you were working as a waitress in a strip club called the Purple Pony?"

"Yep"

"So…what happened?"

"She and this enormous man came in and sat in my section. I waited on them and she kept following me with her eyes. I made some smartass remark about taking a picture it would last longer, and the next thing I knew the manager was asking me to give them a lap dance in a private room. She'd given the guy $200 for me to do it. I got to keep half of that. This was 1974. Gas was 0.50 cents a gallon, a pack of cigarettes was 0.50 cents. $200 was a ridiculous amount of money. It was like a month's rent for someone living alone in a very nice apartment. There was no way I could turn it down and keep my job."

"What did you do?"

"I went into the back room. She and the guy were there. This was the 70s, plenty of my friends had done the threesome thing. I hadn't, but it was sorta like the 60s, still free love, but with more cocaine. Anyway, I really didn't want to add having sex for money to my life experiences but I needed that job. And that month, I needed the $100 bucks for rent, food, and tuition.

"I was so nervous, more nervous because I was really attracted to her. She's beautiful now but seeing her the first time, I can't explain it, she was…

"Radiant?"

"Yes. That's what she was. She's older than I am. I bet you didn't know that did you?"

"No."

"And here I was, this country girl in the big city and she was this elegant, sophisticated creature. I was trying to play off my nervousness and when I walked in, I walked right over to her, leaned in her ear and said, 'Tell me what you want.'

"She sort of smirked at me and then smiled at the guy and said, 'Jerry, wait outside the door.' He looked at her and then left. Then she looked me up and down. Like she was going to devour me and said, 'I want to get to know you better.'

"I sneered. Then asked her, 'How do you want to get to know me? In the biblical sense, or do you want to see if I'm well read?'

"At that, she said, 'I didn't mean to insult you. I'm not expecting anything you don't want to give willingly. I just thought the money was the quickest way to have a conversation with you. You intrigue me.'

"I answered her by saying, 'Well now my boss thinks of me as someone who can be bought. So thanks for that.'

"She looked completely ashamed. I could tell it was a new emotion for her. She picked up her purse and said, 'I am sorry. I truly meant no offense. I'll tell the Turkey at the front that you're too classy for this and that he should consider you for management. Would that be alright?'"

"Turkey?" I ask.

"It was the 70s. Someone who was an idiot. Someone who was useless. I think the full term was 'Jive-Turkey.' It may have come from Richard Pryor. I'm not really sure. You called people that. I can't remember why exactly. It sure as hell wasn't a term of endearment. Anyway, I said something to the effect of 'don't do me any more favors' and walked out.

"I worked the rest of my shift waiting to get fired, but at the end of the night the $100 was there for me. The manager apologized for the mix-up. Said the lady was sorry for the inconvenience and that he'd never ask me to do that again.

"I lived in a shitty apartment in the Quarter with two other girls. They were a couple and shared the bedroom while I slept on the couch. It was an okay arrangement though because I could walk to and from work. I'm not sure if it started that night but I soon noticed that Jerry was following me. Finally, I confronted him and all he said was, 'Miss Devereaux told me to make sure you got home okay.' I was incensed. Who did she think she was, butting into my life like that?

"I had told him to get the hell away from me but this went on for at least two weeks. Jerry was very good at his job and hid himself well a lot of the time, even being as huge as he was, he was pretty stealthy when he wanted to be. But one night in the rain I caught him. It was the sound his size 14s made in the puddles. I demanded to know where she was. He led me to a bar not far from where we were, Preservation Hall. I walked in and dragged her out of there and demanded to know what the hell gave her the right to sick her guard dog on me."

"What happened?" I ask, completely enthralled by the story.

"She pulled me to her and kissed me in the middle of Bourbon Street in the rain."

I gasp and then ask, "What did you do?"

"She kissed me back." Ronnie answers smiling. She and Gail had evidently started paying attention to our conversation. "And I took her back to my place and she never left."

"What made you kiss her?" Gail asks Ronnie.

"She was so…virtuous. All that righteous indignation. Still melts my butter when she gets like that. I had Jerry keeping an eye on her because she was working in a club that was owned by the Dixie Mafia. There was always a bad crowd in there. She was so lovely and had no idea she was, you know? I didn't want anything happening to her. So I'd go listen to Jazz for an hour or so while Jerry made sure she got off work and home okay. Jerry worked for my father but he never betrayed my confidence.

"Once I convinced her to move in with me, I also convinced her to quit her job and work at a restaurant because she didn't have to pay rent. She graduated from Tulane Magna Cum Laude with her History degree." Ronnie smiles proudly.

"Then what?" Gail asks.

"We lived happily ever after." Ronnie says.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Hours later, after eating dinner with Ronnie and Betty, we're alone, curled up on the couch in my grandparents' house having showered and changed into lounge clothes. Gail asks me, "Do you know why they moved down here?"

"I'm not sure. I think my grandparents know. I do know that they almost never leave. They stay here year round and have been here as long as I can remember."

"That was some story." Gail says as she snuggles into my lap further. My cop is a secret cuddler.

"Yep." I say absently as I run my fingers through her hair.

"Do you think we'll be like that in forty years?" She asks nonchalantly but I know that she is worried. I stop my hand and she looks up at me.

"Do you think you can put up with me for forty years?" I ask.

She snorts in response. "I should be asking you that. You know I'm much harder to get along with than you are."

"I wouldn't say that. I can't imagine spending forty years with anyone but you Gail."

"Holly?"

"Yes?"

"Take me to bed."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Gail**

I wake up to the sound of voices downstairs. I check the bedside clock. 10:45 am. Holly, her head on my chest, and I are tangled together mostly uncovered by the sheet. We're both naked, which was great last night, but makes me feel vulnerable now. "Holly!" I whisper as I shake her shoulder.

"Gail, I love you, but I'm exhausted. I can't possibly. Lemme sleep a little bit and I'll make it up to you." She mumbles.

"Holly! Get up! I think your grandparents are here!" I hiss at her. She shoots straight up in the bed her head colliding with my chin. "Shit!" I say through gritted teeth.

"Honey! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She looks at me and asks softly.

"I'm fine." I say as I hold my jaw. "Put some clothes on and go downstairs. I'll be down in a minute."

She dresses quickly and closes the bedroom door behind her. Despite what I said earlier, I'm hella nervous. I've never met anyone's parents, much less their grandparents. Nick didn't have any family, and Chris never wanted me to meet his mother. The last parents I met belonged to my high school boyfriend Keith Bryant. They loved me though. I found out later his mom had a pretty substantial drug habit. Bummer. So no positive experiences to draw from then.

I put on some clothes, wash my face, brush my teeth, contemplate putting on makeup, but decide that will make me look pretentious. Then I go downstairs. I hear the conversation before I turn the corner into the kitchen.

"Please Gamma be nice."

"Holly Garland! When have you known me to be rude?"

"Probably since she can remember." A male voice replies.

"Jack Stewart! No one is looking for your input here."

"Gamma, I just meant that you are a very strong personality and I still remember you and Melissa at Christmas that year…"

"She was a horrible person Holly."

"Yes Gamma. I know that now, but please, just be nice. Maybe not so…blunt?"

"I'm always nice Honey. Besides your sister has told us about her already."

"Jesus, what did Izzy say?" Holly asks.

"Good things." Her grandmother replies evasively.

I decide that things aren't going to get better, and that my odds of being discovered increase the longer I stand there, so I round the corner. I smile at the three of them. Holly's grandfather is probably a little over six foot one. He's a bit stooped but still tall. His hair has more black in it than I would expect. There's a lot of gray but he has some hair that's the color of Holly's. He's a handsome man with Holly's eyes. Her grandmother is a tiny woman. She can't be 5' 3" and she might weigh a hundred pounds but her back is ramrod straight. She has strawberry blonde hair that is shot through with gray, and blue eyes. She reminds me a bit of my mother's mother which is terrifying. They all smile at me in greeting. Again, Holly holds out her hand for the introduction and again, I take it gratefully.

"Gamma, Pops, this is Gail. Gail, Jack and Sally Stewart my grandparents." She beams proudly. I can't tell if it's for them, or me, or both, or the moment.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." I say genuinely. Her grandmother smiles at me and it's Holly's smile. I smile back reflexively and can't help but say, "Holly and Izzy have your smile."

"My, my, observant aren't you?" Mrs. Stewart says.

"I have to be." I answer.

"Well, I'm glad you are. Izzy told us that you saved her life." Mr. Stewart stands and holds his arms out and then says, "We're huggers. All of us. Think you can stand it?"

"I'll do my best." I say as he wraps me up in a hug. I once told Andy that hugs weren't really the way I communicated, but that's not really the truth. There are times when I don't have words, and I execute what Chris has called my "Attack Hug." He's been a recipient of it on more than one occasion, most notably when he came back from Timmins. I'm more comfortable with initiating the hugs. But, the Stewart magic seems to still be in full force because when Jack Stewart hugs me, I feel warm and safe and loved. I take a moment to swallow the lump in my throat because I realize that no one in my family, save maybe Steve, has ever hugged me like this.

"There. That wasn't so bad was it?" He says as he puts his hands on my shoulders.

"No sir. It was nice." I reply honestly.

"Don't hog her Jack." Mrs. Stewart declares as she pops him gently in the stomach with the back of her hand. She examines me critically for a moment and then says, "You don't come from huggers. I can tell. Neither did I, but the bastard wore me down. So now I'm just a big ol' pile of goo. I'm compelled to hug you but you don't have to hug me back 'k?"

"It's fine ma'am." I say, as I bend down slightly to hug her. I look over to see Holly quietly observing the scene. She looks happy.

"Now. There. That's better. You should call us Sally and Jack. You're family now, but I think Gamma and Pops would sound weird coming from an adult that didn't call us that when they were three. What do you think?"

"That's fine..." I say and she looks at me. "That's fine, Sally."

Sally nods then says, "Now, I'll fix breakfast and you can tell us all about saving Izzy's life."

"Oh Gamma, you don't have to do that." Holly begins.

"Nonsense. The two of you have obviously just woken up and if I was your age, on vacation, I'd have stayed up all night having sex. You're probably starved. You look like you've been up all night having sex…" Sally says matter-of-factly and I feel my face flush scarlet.

"Gamma!" Holly shouts.

"What? Lesbians don't have sex? You know I read about this in one of those magazines I subscribed to when you and Izzy came out. I think it's called 'bed death.' That's not happening to you already is it? That seems to be soon."

Holly covers her face with her hands. "Oh. My. God." She says from beneath her hands. She moves them and pleads with her grandfather, "Pops! Do something!"

"Holly honey, I've found that when she's in these moods it's best just to ride it out." He says calmly as he wraps his arm around Holly's shoulders. "Now Gail, what do you want for breakfast? My Sally is an amazing cook."

"It doesn't matter to me." I say hoping that my face is returning to its normal color.

"Gamma, Gail is allergic to tomatoes and she hates eggs, unless they're cooked in something. So no scrambled, sunny-side up etc."

"Gotcha. What about you Holly? Are you still a vegetarian?" Sally asks as she begins looking in the fridge.

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay. We're having shrimp and grits for those of us who eat meat. Holly, I'll make special grits for you. Unless you just want some biscuits, or I could whip up some banana pancakes." Sally calls out, her head still inside the fridge.

My mouth starts to water. I am starving. I mean we _were_ up most of the night having sex. I look at Holly. Holly calls out to her grandmother. "It all sounds really good Gamma. Whatever you want to make."

Sally pulls her head out of the fridge, takes one look at me and declares, "So all of it then. Has she not fed you since you've been here?"

"Yes ma'am she's fed me." I defend Holly. "I just have a high metabolism."

"Uh huh. Now out of my kitchen all of you. Jack set the table. Then entertain them in the living room."

Breakfast was a religious experience. There was chocolate gravy. At one point I leaned over to Holly and whispered, "I think I'm in love with your grandmother." She just laughed softly at me. All total, I had five banana pancakes, four biscuits with chocolate gravy, which is amaaaiiiizzzing, and a helping of shrimp and grits which isn't nearly as disgusting as it sounds. I even helped clean up, a first for me. Her grandmother seemed pleased that I ate so much.

"So what's your plan today Gail?" Sally asked me as Holly was in the living room telling her grandfather what Betty had said about the air-conditioner.

"I'm supposed to go shopping with Ronnie." I anxiously replied.

"Ooh, I love shopping with Ronnie. Do you care if I tag along?"

Not seeing any way out of it, I said, "Not at all."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When I talked to Ronnie about this yesterday, I envisioned a very different scene. I wanted to find a dress to wear to dinner and dancing. Holly had seen me in both the dresses she'd managed to pack. I wanted something special. When I asked Ronnie about it, she said she'd take care of it and for me not to worry. What I didn't know was that the largest dress collection in Key West belonged to Ronnie. What she meant was that I'd go shopping in her closet. Sally being there increased the awkward factor to about 9.7 out of 10.

"So Sugar, what does Holly like?" Ronnie asked.

"Uh, what do you mean?" I respond shyly.

"She wants to know if she likes your tits or your ass or whatever." Sally retorts. "Jack was always fascinated with my neck."

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to get through this without actually dying of embarrassment. "Uh, I'm not sure what she likes exactly." I have an idea. I take out my phone. I have a picture of us from our date to the restaurant and Second City. It was a full-length photo I conned the official photographer into taking of us. "She liked this dress."

"Well, shit Sugar, who wouldn't." Ronnie snorts, hands the phone to Sally, then begins rummaging through her closet.

"Y'all make a cute couple. You really love her, don't you?" Sally asks me sincerely.

"More than I ever thought possible." I say honestly. "She's so remarkable. I wonder how on earth she could possibly be interested in me. You and her parents did a great job with her and with Izzy. They're both wonderful people. Holly doesn't put up with any of my bullshit. She doesn't get put off by my walls. She just waits me out and…before I knew it I was head over heels in love with her."

"You know, I felt the same way when I met Jack. He was just so infuriatingly calm sometimes. Drove me insane." Sally says lost in thought.

"Found it!" Ronnie sings from within her closet. She steps out with a red dress. It has an exaggerated sweetheart neckline and empire waist and a pleated floor-length skirt. There's a ruffle around the neckline and it's too long for what I want. It looks like it's from the '70s. At my look, she responds, "Relax, I'm a pretty good seamstress. We're going to alter it for you, take off the ruffle and shorten it to cocktail length. With Sally's help, I should be able to get it done in a couple of hours. You'll be able to wear it tonight. It'll look like you were poured into it."

"That will be very becoming." Sally states and then looks at me and continues, "I have no idea what the girl equivalent to this is, but Jack was so frustrating when we dated. He was such a gentleman. I practically had to beg him to have sex at times, he was so damn chivalrous, but I found out that he was very visual, lingerie worked wonders. He wanted me just as much as I wanted him but he was so controlled. It was quite the rush to get his control to snap." She looks over at me and notices that my face has gone beet red again. "You've found the lingerie trick, I take it." I just nod. "Excellent."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Holly**

Gail and Gamma spent some of the day shopping they said. Gail went upstairs after they got back to lay down. I wanted to go after her but she stopped me at the foot of the stairs saying, "I'm okay Baby. Really. I'm just tired. I'm going to take a nap." I could tell it was something else but I didn't push.

Gamma and Pops soon retire to their bedroom and I end up napping on the couch for part of the afternoon after Jane Eyre got too fuzzy to read anymore. Gamma wakes me up saying that I should go get ready that I need to take Pops to Sloppy Joe's to go watch the football game then she and Gail would meet us at the restaurant. At least she didn't send us to the Hogs Breath Saloon. I'm not sure that Pops cared about the ballgame. When I asked him which one we needed to see, he just said "this one" and pointed at the TV.

We finally get to the restaurant and I'm worried that Gail and Gamma have beaten us there when he puts his hand on my arm and speaks, "Honey, I've been with your grandmother for almost sixty years. If she was here, I'd feel it in my bones."

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay together so long."

"Well, I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard work but for me there wasn't another option. From the first moment I saw her, I knew she'd be the only one for me. That's not to say that there weren't times when I wanted to yell, storm, and rage but I never wanted to be without her. There are still times I look at her and she takes my breath away. She's the best part of me."

"How did you know that she was the one?"

"How do you feel about Gail? Can you explain it?"

"I…"

"I mean, why do you love her?" At my perplexed look, he simply says, "It's in your eyes Honey, when you look at her it's in your eyes. You do love her, don't you?"

"So much it scares me."

"That's a fine thing. It scares you because it's not logical, because you can't explain it. It just is. Right?"

"Yes."

"She takes you out of your comfort zone. It's good for you. She does to you what your grandmother did to me. I had this nice ordered life and she just completely laid waste to it. I couldn't think, I couldn't concentrate. There were other women, women who were allegedly more suited to me, but they paled in comparison. You'll figure it out. You'll see."

The waiter comes and shows us to our table. Gamma walks in about ten minutes later and says, "Gail was just checking her lipstick. She's right behind me." A couple of minutes later I notice the restaurant has gone suddenly quiet. It's eerie. The normal utensils on plates and chatter have died completely. I see my grandfather stand up out of the corner of my eye and I look up. Gail is walking toward the table in a siren red dress that looks like it was made for her. Her lips match the dress and have never looked more kissable. I'm just as speechless as everyone else in the room.

My grandfather walks over to Gail's chair and pulls it out for her. "You look lovely dear." He says and kisses her on the cheek.

"Thank you, Jack." Gail says as she sits down.

Conversation around the restaurant resumes. Pops walks behind my chair and squeezes my shoulder almost painfully before he sits down.

"Gail, you look, wonderful." I manage.

"Thank you." She looks up at me shyly, her head bowed slightly.

Gamma then begins conversation with Pops as Gail and I stare at each other like we don't speak the same language but are trying to convey our feelings with looks and gestures. Dinner went by surprisingly quickly. After dessert, Gamma asked Gail to accompany her to the restroom which I thought was odd, but before I could comment on it, Pops began, "Your grandmother wanted you to have this" placing a sapphire and diamond ring in my palm and curling my fingers over it. "It's the engagement ring I gave her."

"Pops, I can't."

"Don't you get me in trouble now. Your Gamma has taken quite a liking to your girl. I can see that you're stupid in love with her. You couldn't even speak earlier. We want you to have it. You don't have to use it, but we can both see how happy she makes you. If you decide that she's the one, then you'll have a ring to do it with." He looks at me sincerely.

"Thank you" I say, my eyes brimming with tears.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

We drop my grandparents off at the house. I'm not wasting that dress on Gail. I run in, drop off the ring and change quickly into the outfit I started to wear out in Miami. We're going to go to a club. We started out on foot but it's amazing the kind of attention you can garner wearing a handkerchief top with a woman in a red dress. We hitch a ride on an electric car/golf cart to a nearby club.

I buy Gail some tequila shots, and step behind her wrapping my arms around her waist then begin nibbling on her ear, "You look absolutely edible. Where on earth did you get this?"

She does three tequila shots in quick succession speaking the entire time. "Ronnie's closet." Shot. "She and your grandmother altered it for me." Shot. "It used to have a ruffle around the neck and they took that off but I was afraid it was too much cleavage, but Sally said that your granddad was visual" Shot "And that you probably were too and then they shortened it and took it in."

"Poor baby." I say smiling. "Gamma is right. Evidently, I'm a very visual person. You want more alcohol for being so wonderful and spending the day with my grandmother?" I ask my chin on her shoulder. I kiss it softly.

"Yes please. But honestly, it wasn't so bad. Just awkward at times. I liked her."

"God, I'm so hopelessly in love with you." I say and hold up four fingers for the bartender. He comes over with more shots and I take two. Gail does the other two.

"Alright Lunchbox, let's do this. Show me your moves."

"You think I don't have moves Peck?"

"Oh I'm pretty sure you do." She grabs my hands and drags me to the dance floor. I can feel the bass pounding in my chest. She turns her back to me, swaying side to side, and slides down my front, bending her knees completely and rising back up, popping her ass into my crotch as she stands. People stop dancing to stare. I'm moving with her then and I'm lost in her. She reaches her arm back behind my head, leans her head back on my shoulder and pulls me in for a lingering kiss. Finally, she releases me. We dance into the wee hours of the morning. It was so much better than my dream.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you again for all the favorites, follows and reviews. I read and appreciate every single one. Let me know what you all would like to see next. Any ideas on how Holly should propose? Or should she move to San Francisco? Just kidding! Gah.**

**I do not own Rookie Blue or Rookie Blue's characters.**


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